One Reason to Live
by Raven6224
Summary: Peace seems to have fallen over the world after the fall of S.H.I.E.L.D. but unbeknownst to Earth's Mightiest Heroes, many secrets remain in its wake. A decade long secret that would change their entire world in a flash and HYDRA is still out there. Still the threat and now they've brought the battle to the front lines and it's up to a troubled girl to change the tides in her favor
1. A Flame in the Night

_Chapter One: A Flame In the Night_

__**Here's a new fanfiction I decided to write with all the avengers having kids, this series is separate from Panic and Vanya's series's. Okay so the kids in the picture are, who I picked to be the characters, so going from the left at the top is Shaylene, Tara, Ciara, then on the second row Nathan, Bryan, and Tarben. Please comment and follow this story as well as my others! Also the story's in Shaylene's POV but may swap from time to time as it's always fun to explore other aspects of characters through another's eyes. **__

__**Also I'll update ONCE A WEEK on WEDNESDAY!**__

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The world around us is illuminated in an azure ocean blue glow from the full moon above. Occasional honks of vehicle horns startle the others as we aren't commonly around the main city section where most traffic resides. I'm the only one who has absolute reasons to be startled by cars, not that they, or anyone else for that matter, knows that. Together there are six of us; three girls and three guys and we're practically family even if not by blood.

It's past midnight but instead of using the sidewalks placed all along New York's street sides, my group and I use abandoned and forgotten alleys scattered along the city to keep out of sight. Apartment complexes and food establishments loom over us, cleverly shadowing the six of us in a obscure cloud of darkness. Predominantly, I wouldn't bring my group along like this for menial task like buying tonight's dinner but they wanted to tag along so I obliged.

Director Nick Fury having his nose in the air in search of us is a major factor. He's been after us for a decade and while S.H.I.E.L.D. has been disbanded after the whole—_ugh! Steve Rogers_— Helicarrier take down when it was discovered that HYDRA had been working, growing inside of S.H.I.E.L.D. Pushing the thought aside we round a corner, me in the lead. Peaking my head around I search for anyone of any suspicious characters. Finding none I wave my hand o my crew signaling them to follow. The bright, blinding flashing of red, blue, purple, yellow, and green lights blur together looking more like rainbow vomit rather then advertising signs.

Tara, my closest friend, stands to my left, flipping her long, dark brown locks off her shoulder. We're total opposites; Tara and me. While Tara has dark brown eyes, outspoken, never takes anything seriously, and has a killer knack for sarcasm and signature one-liners on the other side of the spectrum; there's me with sharp, focused light blue eyes, a voice of strategies and battle plans, always taking anything and everything seriously, and a distant but determined fighter.

Despite our distinct and polar opposite personality differentiation, we rarely have heated disagreements unlike our older DNA counterparts. Perhaps Tara doesn't take anything serious because— unlike me —she doesn't have to worry or stress about the next meal, where to go next, what the battle plans are. She's never had to protect anyone and lead anybody else like I do, knowing that if you make one mistake, that could be the death of a friend.

"Shay!" Tara whines, tugging on the sleeve of my smokey gray, long-sleeved shirt like a five year old kid would.

"Yes darling, do you need your diaper changed?" I reply, snapping back with an ever so slight trace of sarcasm in my voice.

"Hey," she says, glaring at me with playful anger. "I'm the sarcastic one in this group, I'm like a modern day Bill Cosby, only less famous, and white, but that's not the point, are we there yet!?"

"Almost," is my response.

Nate, or Nathan to everyone else, tugs Tara back and looks at her with his dark green eyes almost glowing, with what can only be assumed as annoyance. "Quit pestering Shay, she needs to focus on the surroundings." He releases her and using the newly freed hand, brushes his dark red hair back into place.

"Thanks for the help Nate" I say, looking back a moment to flash him a genuine smile before looking forwards again.

"How come Shay gets to call you by a nickname but the rest of us can't?" Tara protests and I imagine her stomping her feet into the ground, back arched, and hands planted firmly on her narrow, but curvy hips.

"Because unlike the rest of you, Shay doesn't actively go out of her way to annoy me."

I hear Tara scoff but pay it no mind as I lead them closer towards China Town where my close friend, Mei has a Chinese restaurant. During the day I work at her restaurant and in exchange for my work there she provides food for my friends. This will be the first time they have met Mei but as long as they don't get me fired, I'm fine with their attendance because if not for this job we'd all be in hot water.

Just as we start getting closer the smell of smoke overtakes the air and that's when I notice it, an apartment building across from China Town has gone up in flames, I can see all the people still trapped inside. More people are up in the higher floors while most of the lower floor people have managed to escape, as I look back at my crew they nod, we're not eating tonight, that's for sure.

"Help! Please someone save my baby!" a dark skinned woman with medium length black hair shouts out of her open window, looking for any sort of escape for her children only to find none.

"Tarben you stay down on the main floor and I'll go out and drop the kids from the window for you to catch, Tara," I turn to her. "Find something to put that fire out, Bryan you help her with that and keep your temper in check, Nathan standby to help Tarben in case he needs it, and Ciara, get onto of the building and be lookout, we have our comm units, so let us know what's going on. Alright?"

"Alright!" they all agree, nodding a moment we turn and spring into action.

I watch as Ciara darts off toward the tall, seven story building I pointed too and as Tara runs towards the fire hydrant, Bryan trudging pretty far behind. Dashing forward I don't look back to see if Tarben, one of my guy friends, is behind me. All I can focus on the burning building, the people and children inside, and my urge to save them as well as my gangs decision to help them too.

"Hey!" a man standing around the group of people forming a mob around the building says as I start pushing past the people. "Where are you going? That building's on fire, you're gonna get yourself hurt."

Without turning back or stopping I respond. "It's better than sitting here waiting for the fire department that will take at least five minutes to arrive."

My eyes burn and sting as soon as I enter the burning apartment building. Finding a plain black scarf thrown precariously on the lobby floor couch I take it and wined it tightly around my face as a futile attempt to keep at least some of the hazardous smoke from infiltrating my lungs. Through blurry, watery eyes finding the staircase is hard despite it only taking a few seconds at most.

Using one hand to hold the scarf in place the other one to grip the railing on the stairway I use it to propel myself up three steps at a time instead of only one. I reach the next floor but unlike the main floor, ceiling beams have collapsed and flames engulf the fallen boards. Stepping back I get a running start and perfectly clear the flaming rafters, slamming into the floor on the other side of the hallway.

"Hello!" I shout, cupping my hands by my mouth to make my voice louder. "Who's here on this floor, I'm here to help you out? Hello!"

A small voice peeps up from a room labeled as a janitors closet at the end of the hallway. The door swings open and huddled close to the ground sits a girl with bright red hair and lost looking grey eyes. "Me."

Stepping forward I hold my hand out for the little girl who can't be any older then eight years old, pull the scarf away from my face, and secure it tightly around her face instead. Pressing my hand to the middle of her back I give small, soft orders to keep from intimidating her. I feel like I need to protect her more, get her out now, as she is only two years older than my crew was when they relied on my to take care of them.

"Get as low to the ground as you can kiddo, smoke rises, if you need to use my waist as support, that's perfectly fine, now lets go. I need to get you you out of here," I lead her forward.

The little girl is walking low to the ground under my command, her arms secured tightly around my waist to keep from falling, her eyes closed tightly. Kicking open an apartment door I pull her in and glance around in search of a window only to find none in the living room, tugging her into the bedroom I tell her to lay on the ground and keep that scarf around her face.

Digging my fingers under the window seal, I grit my teeth in frustration using all the reserved strength that I haven't been forced to use since my awful childhood. The screen squeals out as I force the window up, locking the latch on the windows top, securing it.

"Tarben!" I call. "Where are you?"

"I'm here!" he calls, looking up at me with steel blue eyes much darker than my own.

I nod. "Get ready out she comes," I look to the girl. "Get up."

She does as ordered and looks out the window, fear evident on her young face. "I-I can't, I'm s-scared of heights."

"Sweetie," I say, she doesn't glance my way. "Sweetie, look at me, I need you to trust that man down there, he's my friend, one of my best friends and I promise on my life that he won't drop you."

"You swear?" she says, voice slightly muffled by the scarf.

"I do," is my response, honesty filling my voice. She must hear the truthfulness in my tone as she steps to the window and lifts one leg over, then another until she's literally just sitting on the window seal

"Sophie, oh my God Sophie my baby!" the mother of the child who I now know as Sophie cries, absolute fear in her tone.

Sophie looks back at me, mumbles a thank you, and then drops of the window, hair flying up behind her. I don't bother to look as I know Tarben caught her otherwise horrified shrieks would surely have followed. Ignoring the now constant burning in my lungs I reach the next set of steps and thunder up them in a flash and up here the smoke is even heavier.

It's so heavy it's like a grey cloud is filling the room, the smoke can been seen as clear as day. The burning in my lungs becomes to intense and I have no choice but to let out a choking, sputtering sort of cough. Tears from the smoke burning my eyes drips down my face is salty tears but I press on and shout out for anyone on this floor.

"Hello! Anyone here on this floor!" my voice is husky and hoarse. It feels as if the hallway is shifting, slanting over but I press on, using the walls of the hallway to walking straight. "Anyone!"

"In here! We're in here," it's the voice of the woman that I'd seen calling out the window for someone to save her children. Stumbling forward I take notice on how the smoke in my lungs has started to effect me. It won't be long until I'm unable to comprehend strategies so I need to get them out as fast as possible so I can get out too.

"Two minutes," Ciara's voice rings through the comm unit—designed by Tara from stray wiring and metals I acquired, she has a thing for technology.

"Hear you loud and clear Ciara," I mumble. Pushing the door open I realize that it's either melted shut from the fire inside the room, stuck but a broken bolt, or locked but either way, the door's coming down.

"The heat from the fire melted the door, we're trapped inside!" the woman on the other side of the door tell me as if answer my internal question.

"Stand as far back away from the door as you can get."

"What are you gonna—" she doesn't get to finish her sentence as I get a running start. The door creeks and groans when my shoulder collides with the weakened wood and without much strength issued the hinges snap and the door slams inward revealing the dark skinned woman with a young son around five years old gripping at her knee while a girl at least two or three years older stands straight at her mothers side.

The children all have fabric wrapped around their faces except the mother. Everyone in the room looks at me, shocked that I was capable of knocking a door down without tools of any sort. Pushing past them I look to Tarben and wave my hand catching his attention. "Two kids, five and two to three years older coming down. Eldest first."

"Wait! What? You ain't sending my children out that window with no safety net or nothin'" the mother quickly protests.

"Well it's either this or risk burning to death on an attempt to scale down a no longer structurally sound building that's in flames, this is the best options, I've already gotten one child out and reconnected with her family. Your children will be fine."

The daughter climbs up and out, screaming as she free falls a moment before I see her caught by Tarben. As he sets her down he flips his longish blonde skater boy hair out of his face, his dark blue eyes now clear to see.

She sends her son over to me and tells him to do as I say. The boy is much to small to climb out like the sister so, being as careful as I can possibly be, I lift him up and hold him out the window, getting a nod from Tarben saying he can catch him. Releasing him is one of that hardest things I do but when I finally do my heart pounds— if possible —even harder in my chest than before.

I dig around the room and find a bed sheet long enough to extend out the window. Twisting the bed sheet around into a tight, spiral I use two ponytails on on each end to secure it into the would shape. Darting back to the window I toss the bottom of the bed sheet out the window and brace my feet by the wall near the window and nod for the woman to climb out and use the bed sheet as a ropes to climb herself down.

"A-are you sure that'll hold and what about you, are you going to be able to hold that and support me, I've got a least an extra hundred pounds on you, you can't be no more than nineteen."

"Go, don't worry, I can support this."

Not saying another world the woman obeys my order and climbs out the window and I feel her weight on the bed sheet as if I was hit in the back with a sack full of bricks. Just as she closes in on the ground a loud, thunderous rumble and ear-shattering splitting or the beams supporting the room fall in on themselves, falling straight for me.

"Tarben! Catch her!" my voice rips from my lungs as my fingers release the rope, pushing my feet against the floor I jump backward, slamming into the wood floor as the rubble from the roof piles up, blocking the window and keeping me trapped. I either have to find another way out on the floor or get down stairs and hope that that way is still a clear passage.

"Shay!" Tarben screams for me, fear in his voice. Flames from fallen beams lick their burning tongues at me and I scurry back, still in a laying position. The room is spinning and I clutch my throat coughing hysterically as I climb to my feet and stumble from the apartment. The whole floor is such a dark, stormy gray color that it's taken on a fog like appearance leaving me incapable of seeing what's directly before me.

My eyes are on fire and my though burns, itches, and is as dry as a desert. Every breath I take a deeper, more intense cough emerges and I know I'm done for if I don't get out, soon. Using the wall as a guide I lead my way through the what feels like the longest hallway ever before finding a staircase. My feet slip and I tumble down the stairs, pain ripping through me each time I collide with a different step.

I glance around and it, the world, is fuzzy and hazy like a camera effect.

"Shay!" Tarben calls my name.

"Shay are you alright!" Tara voice.

Shay!?" Nate screams and I can hear the utter fear in his voice.

My arms ache and wobble, probably from the smoke in my lungs. Large wooden beams lie all across the flames, that set the main room ablaze with flames eating ruthlessly at the collapsed boards. A cough escapes me and the world is blurry from the tears in my eyes, I can't see anything but the flames in front of me and the heavy dark fog of smoke hiding the door from me.

Rising to my feet I run forward, not even caring and just before I reach the beams I push up off the ground and go flying across the room and collide with what I assume to be the door. It doesn't move but I hear the bolts creaking and pulling against the brick sidings. I slam into the door over and over again, ignoring my gaze fading in and out.

Fed up with the door not budging I step back and slam my foot at it in full force and that does the trick as it falls outward and slams with a loud _thud_ against the paved road. Smoke plumes out from the now open passageway filling the outer air but granting me fresh, breathable air. I stumble forward only to feel Tarben and the rest of my crew by my side. All of them have at least one hand on me for support, support I don't need.

The people around us are pointing and thanking me, the ambulance and fire trucks decide to finally show up now and we know it's time to get out of sight. As we make our way back into the shadows goosebumps pop up all over my arms, and down my spine. It feels as if someone's watching us, I glance around as Tara, the one closet to me gains more and more distance from me.

Shaking my head I chalk the odd feeling up to adrenaline and push forward, stepping into the shadows of the alley's of New York and hopefully this event will be forgotten because if not I'll be all over the news and that's not good, especially with Nick Fury still searching for us.

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_**Remember how I said in Panic's second story; "In the Line of Fire, Panic" I had a different plot for the second one, well this was the original plot(ish) for it. Things may been a little bit more different with Panic being the only kid of Tony's and Nick Fury saying that he didn't want anymore Stark's in the world but yeah I thought it'd do better as a solo story, do you all think I made the right choice? Be sure to leave me comments on this story and as you can all tell, I've put way more work into the writing of this story than most of my other ones.**_

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**_I decided to change the image so if you all want to see what the characters look like, copy and paste the _****_URL to see ,my quotev where the image with all six of them are._**

story/6118300/The-Avengers-Kids/


	2. Battle for Freedom

_Chapter Two: Battle for Freedom_

**_Welcome to the arena, no just kidding, I'm actually in my living room typing this because I can. Last time Shay and her group saved some people from a burning apartment complex in New York City and as they were leaving Shay felt as if she was being watched and was worried about being seen in photos and on TV because Nick Fury, the former director of S.H.I.E.L.D. is after them. Be sure to follow, favorite, and comment on this story!_**

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My clothes are charred and darkened with black smudges from the smoke seeking into the fabric. I'll have to get me a new shirt as soon as possibly because it looks like I've been in a fire, which I was. My dark grey jeans are ripped up the knee from my epic fall from great stair mountain. Burn holes from the flames not only ate away at my jeans leaving holes but as well as my t-shirt. Thinking about last night and the odd feeling of being watched I decided not to inform my crew about my uncomfortable feelings due to the likely fact that it's probably nothing for concern.

Quickly darting a glance at the heavily cracked bathroom mirror of the warehouse I catch all the dirt and the licorice ink colored smoke residue on my skin but all the cuts I hadn't notice I'd received in the burning complex, especially the one on my cheek has already healed leaving no indication of it once being there. Dark purple bags under my eyes are the clearest indicator I have that shows that I haven't slept since yesterday morning after the rest of my group was up and about, I drop my gaze to the ground avoiding looking into the glass after my few second assessment of myself.

While originally the crew insisted on taking turns for the night watch, whenever they did it they would all fall asleep over the course of the evening so now I do all the night watches while they sleep the night away. To make up for the lack of sleep during the night I take naps in the morning and continuously throughout the day then spend the night awake. There are some days where when the suns up so am I and usually on those days and that's usually when I'm either working at the restaurant or buying new shoes, pants, or shoes for my friends or when I buy dinner.

Turning the sink handle, the pipes squeal as water splashes out from the old, scarcely used water. I take a hand full of warm water and splash it onto my face, giving myself a wake up call as well as take a paper towel roll off the closed toilet lid and use the new paper to wipe the grime away. Still keeping my gaze from the mirror that attempts to lull me into glancing its way despite knowing it'll end badly I use my willpower not to look up.

I flip the bathroom light off, casually strolling into the living area or, in other words, the store area where clothing racks would normally be placed if this was a fashion warehouse. This room is like a large box filled with a variety of mismatching furniture items such as the creme colored fabric couch that practically sinks to the floor because that's just how worn out the couch is. It wasn't even in that good of shape when I pulled it from a dumpster with the help of Tarben only a week ago.

Nate sits on the far left side of the couch, keeping all his limbs on his side while his red hair sits disheveled on the top of his head from running his hands through it when—I assume—I was in the burning complex. Beside him sits Ciara, medium brown hair tied back in a dog-tail styled ponytail with her hand carved bow and arrows placed on the ground by her feet in case she needs to spring into action. Bryan sits away from the rest of the group in one of the corners of the room, trying to control his breathing.

He doesn't need to though, because Bryan has total control and consciousness when he..._transforms_. Lastly, Tarben sits on the other end of the couch, the opposite side to Nate. His dark blue eyes are cloudy with what I assume are flashbacks of yesterday and how easily I could have died. Tarben's blond emo-styled hair is parted to the left and a few stray strands fall over his eyes, slightly obscuring them from vision.

"Tara's in the lab working on her new project," Nate informs me without looking back, I was just going to walk away without saying anything to keep from disturbing them but of course Nick would notice my presence.

"Thank you... is my only response before heading down the long, narrow hallway leading to the dark, narrow, concrete stairwell leading into the chilly, mildew smelling air of the basement with stone walls and illuminated only by small kerosene designed lanterns power by triple A batteries. Tara's hunched over her tiny work bench, gaze intensely fixed on the device before her. Her long brown hair falls over her shoulder but she seems not to notice as she continuously tinkers away at her weapons.

In our group we all have different roles played and powers we use, for example; Tara, he main skill is her brain which she uses to build technology to aid us in our never ending endeavor of avoiding Nick Fury as well as any and all Avengers. Back to the point, Tara's weapon of choice is a pair of super-charged whips powered by some sort of electric reactor, I don't know; Science, math, and engineering aren't in my field of knowledge but I'm pretty sure that's what Tara said the last time I asked her about it. Clearing my throat, Tara jumps then feet in the air then twirls around to face me, brown eyes glaring daggers.

"Shay! Jeez, you scared the hell outta me, this isn't the 40's where it's fine and dandy to waltz all up in other peoples personal bubbles. Jesus!" she cries, running her hands through her hair, eyes glisten with mischief.

Raising an eyebrow, I step over to her, glancing down at the remarkably detailed handles of her whips if that's not exciting enough maybe it should be announced that the actual whips are a golden yellow color, kind of like how one would imagine the Holy Grail.

"Shay..." Tara murmurs, looking at me with big brown puppy dog eyes with her bottom lip jutted out in a begging manner. I know she wants something, I can tell by the way she's acting and whatever it is, I'm not going to like it.

"Tara?" I repeat in monotone, giving my face a neutral expression to keep her from knowing if I'll give into whatever plea it is that she'll attempt to make and while Tara is known for bending the decisions of the others in the group but pestering them with constant facts or her natural sarcasm she, as well as the rest of the group, know they can't bend my will, only if I decide to do something will I do it.

"Would you please consider drawing me a—"

"No," I cut her off. Despite feeling awful for being rude by cutter her off mid-sentence I push any and all emotion back down with the rest of all the other things about myself I hide and keep my face straight.

"But—!" she protests, bracing her hands on her hips like a spoiled teenager would do if their parent told them they couldn't go to some concert that would involve drinking and everything else people my age are doing now.

"Besides Tara, I don't have any paper or pencils to draw you a superhero costume in the first place and if you haven't forgotten, our clothing styles are the absolute, total opposite of each other. "

After standing in silence for a minute or two a sense of perturbed unease starts leaking into Tara's eyes, I can see it but I can also feel the uneasiness in the air as well.

"Shay, when we were leaving that _Breaking Bad_ equivalent apartment did, did it feel like you were being watched?"

"You felt it too?" is my response.

She nods. "The thing is that it felt someone bad, not on our side, was watching us, y'know like an enemy, one that we've never faced before that knows more about us than we know about them. That is what inspired me to finish my whips, to be ready."

A loud _whoosh_ rips through the air upstairs and I hear my name shouted twice before my crew goes silent. Tara grabs her whips by the handle and follows me as I silently dart up the staircase. When we reach the main floor the sound of settling shattered glass is now the only sound filling the warehouse living area. An entire wall has been blown out and the rest of my friends are nowhere to be seen.

At least a hundred men dressed in clean black uniforms with button up coat march in all armed with sleek black Barrett REC7's, in other words automatic assault rifles stomp into the warehouse and start searching the room. They lift the couch, pull up the blue floral rug I found in someone's trash bin, and strip search the bathroom. Based on their thorough search I assume they don't have my crew.

Just as I turn to go out the back door the flaring reflection of a metal pin on the men's shirts catches my attention, as well as the lone pin that's been knocked to the floor. The pen is shaped like an octopus with only six arms. The symbol of HYDRA. My fingers clench into fists as I turn, freeing one hand to grip Tara's medium green zip-up hoodie with cozy white fur in the hood as well as inside the hoodie itself, pulling her with me.

"Shay," she whispers, question hanging over us like a dark gray rain cloud.

"They work for HYDRA," I explain, pulling her around a corner before ducking down, fading from sight. "It's a secret intelligence organization that originally started in Germany during World War II under Johann Schmidt better known as the Red Skull, Captain America's enemy."

Rising, I peek over the counter of out makeshift kitchen area, relieved to find no HYDRA agents in our location. Nudging Tara, I start forward making sure to swipe my pistols off the mini diner trays placed randomly throughout the section of the warehouse. Tara holds the handles o her lashes so tightly at her side that her fingers have gone ghostly white in a matter of seconds.

Just as I reach the door I hear shouting in some other language, German I assume and Nathan isn't here to translate, he's got a way with languages. Footsteps of armed soldiers thunder towards Tara and me. Yanking the door open I push her out into the back of the alleyway and follow after, closing the door. Grunting as I bend the doorknob into an angled position so that they'll have to knock the door down if they want to find us I nod when it's bent correctly and head right with Tara hot on my heels.

Why would HYDRA be after us, as far as I'm aware they have no idea of my existence unless, S.H.I.E.L.D. had HYDRA inside the organization and any information before the discovering would be know by all HYDRA agents involved in those sorts of affairs which mean they'd have all the information on Tara and them, not me because Nick Fury kept me hidden from S.H.I.E.L.D.'s knowledge.

Looking back I see the fear in Tara's eyes and glance down at the remote in her hand and nod. That's the warehouse's self-destruction sequence in case of situations like this and we want no one to know where we resided. With shaking fingers she types the key code into the small metal key pad and then taps the ENTER button and then it sounds.

The ground rumbles as a loud Earth shattering boom rips trough the air and glass shatters from the windows. I look forward again, half tempted to look back at the smoke and fire filling the air. All the world blurs into constant thumping of our running, ragged breaths, and the nightfall on the horizon all I can think is that I hope the rest of my crew is at the safe house, I don't know what I'll do if they, they're...

Growling at myself I shake my head, pushing the thought aside, now isn't the time. I'll know soon enough.

The sun sets on the skyline just as we arrive at the safe house, which isn't much is comparison to out old pad. It's a small little house leaning slightly to the left with only two bedrooms which are pretty small but both the rooms have king sized beds which take up most of the floors so we split each up, the boys in one room and the girls in another room while I'll stay in the living room and keep lookout, especially now with HYDRA on our tail.

Knocking our code I wait for a response. After a minute the door opens to reveal Nathan with his red hair messy and a few scrapes that won't take too long to heal but other than that he seems unscathed. I guess he, and the rest of the crew hiding out in the darkness of the living room can see the relief on my face because they all smile reassuringly at me.

Tara enters the safe house first and I follow in close pursuit, closing the door behind me. The living room is nearly pitch dark with only one sole battery powered lantern glowing, not that I'm surprised with what just happened we don't want a lot of light. Sitting down in a circle I swing my gaze around the faces of my friends, silently analyzing all their injuries but they all seem alright.

"Sound off..." I say, almost breathlessly, due to relief.

"We're all good Shay, that's the first thing I asked them when we got here."

I look at him. "What were they saying ate, the people who broke in I mean, they were HYDRA agents so they must have had a reason to come after us in a run down warehouse in downtown New York."

"They said," Nate speaks, translating the HYDRA soldiers words. "_'Get them. Catch every single one of them, but most importantly at least capture the one known as Shaylene Rogers.'_"


	3. Subjects of SHIELD

_Chapter Three: Subjects of S.H.I.E.L.D._

**_Yeah, yeah, I know, you're all glad that this sexy beast is back for another chapter. Damn, that sounded pretty cocky actually, yeah... Let's just forget this _****_over here ^- - - ever happened and just move forward with our lives. Well, why you still reading my A/N. the stories down there go!  
Be sure to follow this story and leave me comments also this series is so fun, I can't wait until the really fun stuff!_**

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Everyone's gone to bed already and have been out for just over three hours, currently the clock mounted over the window on the front wall reads 2:00 a.m. and I sit precariously at the edge of my seat, wide awake with all my senses solely focused on the world outside our safe house. Tipping back into the ancient wooden rocking chair that an elderly woman would use, I rest my neck on the back of the chairs head counting out the hours till morning over and over again in my head.

The rocking chair is placed in the center section of the room but pushed so far back that it practically slams into the wall connecting to Tara and Ciara's bedroom. Leather couches are on either side of the chair and a round dark wood coffee table with a glass oval center sits by my chair and near the couches. A manila folder sits at a split between the glass of the tables center and the wood of the outskirts of it.

That folder wasn't there the last time I came to check slash scope the place out. The edges of the folder are bent and I can automatically tell the file's from S.H.I.E.L.D. or HYDRA I should say, based on the Eagle insignia on the folders belly. My fingers curl around the folder as I bring it over to me and rest the delicate information onto my red blanket covering my lap before flipping the cover open. When my gaze lands on the white papers placed carefully inside I know what the papers are, seeing as most organizations don't laminate random information.

These laminated papers are those that were stolen from S.H.I.E.L.D., the ones about us, my crew and I. The first document is over Tara and in the top right corner is a picture of Tara with medium brown hair falling to her shoulders, mischievous brown eyes, and a real smile. She was only six years old in this picture but this was a life time ago. Frustrated with my inability to see the words I pull the only lit battery powered lantern closer to light the paper in this nearly pitch black room.

**Subject: 0-592-01**

**I.D. Name: Tara Erika Stark**

**Creation Date: March 6, 1999**

**Age: Sixteen**

**Sex: Female**

**Skill Set:**

_**Excels in mathematics, engineering, and science as well as capable of comprehending new/more advanced types of information among those categories with the simple use of reading a book over the new material.  
**_

**Personality: **

**Sarcastic, confident, daring, stubborn, resistant, rebellious, egotistical**

**Alias's: Tatiana Saxton, Lyra Morgan, Bailey Newton**

**Subjects Predecessor: Anthony Edward Stark**

**Location: [UNKNOWN]**

Placing Tara's document face down on the coffee table face down I move on to the next one and like Tara's there's a picture in the top right corner with a picture of six year old Nick.

**Subject: 0-164-01**

**I.D. Name: Nathan Alianov Romanoff**

**Creation Date: April 27, 1999**

**Age: Sixteen**

**Sex: Male**

**Skill Set:**

**Martial**** Artist, sneaky, master interrogator, battle tactician, intelligent, multilingual, master marksman**

**Personality:**

**Calm, quiet, intelligent, observant, focused, dedicated, loyal, obeys orders**

**Alias's: Daniel Leeway, Morton Hall, Barry Levi**

**Subjects Predecessor: Natalia Alianova Romanoff**

**Location: [UNKNOWN]**

Moving on to the next sheet of paper I place Nate's file face down on Tara's and then pull out the next file sheet which happens to be over Tarben with more of those subject numbers, those numbers are starting to make me question them.

**Subject: 0-732-01**

**I.D. Name: Tarben Thorson**

**Creation Date: May 19, 1999**

**Age: Sixteen**

**Sex: Male**

**Skill Set:**

**Is able to control and manipulate lightning as well as intensified strength with the ability to fly  
**

**Personality:**

**Strong-Willed, reckless, headstrong, stubborn, disobedient, prideful**

**Alias's: None**

**Subjects Predecessor: Thor, God of Thunder**

**Location: [UNKNOWN]**

I set his file face down as well on the table top, taking the three in hand and straightening them out before setting them back down and grabbing the next file with Ciara's information on it.

**Subject: 0-85.5-01**

**I.D. Name: Ciara Francisca Barton**

**Creation Date: June 30, 1999**

**Age: Sixteen**

**Sex: Female**

**Skill Set:**

**Expert Marksman, skilled archer, woodworker, skilled in combat, expert strategist**

**Alias's: Samantha Tanan, Cammie Lewis**

**Subjects Predecessor: Clint Francis Barton**

**Location: [UNKNOWN]**

Even after trying to push the thoughts about the subject code numbers it still bugs me and pesters me with questions about what could they possibly mean? All the numbers in the middle change but the other don't and that means something. I don't know what but they mean something big because although they don't create a pattern all number in S.H.I.E.L.D., or when there was a S.H.I.E.L.D. all numbers had meanings and these ones are no different. Setting that paper down I reach for the next one with Bryan's name.

**Subject: 0-498-01**

**I.D. Name: Reese Bryan Banner**

**Creation Date: July 14, 1999**

**Age: Sixteen**

**Sex: Male**

**Skill Set:**

**Genius, especially on the field of radiation, when angered can transform into a Hulk like creature but unlike his predecessor Bryan has full control over his transformation**

**Personality:**

**Polite, nice, oblivious, caring, quiet, open to other ideas and theories**

**Alias's: None**

**Subjects Predecessor: Robert Bruce Banner**

**Location: [UNKNOWN]**

The last document in the folder has to be mine, there's no one else left so, with shaking hands, I reach forward and take the paper in hand. Please don't let them have all the things I've tried so hard to forget. There are things, things in my past that I just want to forget about and move on with my life here and I'm hoping that HYDRA doesn't have this information. Nick Fury knows some of my past but there isn't much left from it for him to dig up.

In the photo in the top right corner it's somewhat blurry and my face can't be seen by my blond hair in the camera frame can be, the photo depicts me running in what looks to be a lab of some sort and as soon as I see the metal slabs of tiles making the floors I remember it. I was seven then, that was a decade ago at this point in time.

**Subject: [UNKNOWN]**

**I.D. Name: Shaylene Griselda Rogers**

**Creation Date: [UNKNOWN]**

**Age: Seventeen **

**Sex: Female**

**Skill Set:**

**Master fighter in hand-to-hand combat, advance tactician and strategist, strong leadership, unbreakable will and determination, expert marksman, advanced vehicle driver, master of stealth**

**Personality:**

**[UNKNOWN]**

**Alias's: Karen Sullivan, Lucy Brooks, Elizabeth Hansen, Alexandria Beck, Opal Taylor, Danielle Mallory, Felicia Fisher**

**Location: [UNKNOWN]**

**Release**** from CC Date: [UNKNOWN]**

Breathing a sigh of relief at the lack of information on me, I gather up all the files and set them back in the folder in the same order they were originally put in before leaning back in the rocker, snuggling into the warmth of the blanket. Memories of that day, or all those years ago flash back like a heart attack and even through my pretests I watch the events play out in my mind. A decade ago we escaped, but we've been on the run ever since.

* * *

_"Shay... Shay... Shay!" Tara whines in my ear as she wired the time set bomb like I'd asked her too. Today was the day we're getting away, no more being lab rats to the man Nick Fury and his super agents. Tara's hair's tied back so it doesn't get caught in the wiring or as easy to grab by the agents who work in this compound so that should save some hassle and aliviate the stress on my shoulders_

_"What Tara..." I respond, voice almost monotone._

_"A-are you sure we should do this, I mean I'm all for rebellion but how are we supposed to survive if we break out of here, this is the only home we've ever known and besides we're six years old Shay, we can't survive on our own."_

_Without looking her way I reply. "Well, I'm seven but you know what this is better than being poked and prodded with needles and interjected with strange colored liquids to advance us from, almost normal people into screwed up superhuman's with extra limbs or the ability to see ice cream from a mile away, I want to get away and live life on my own terms, at least for once."_

_"As long as you're the one I have to take orders from then I'm all in, as you know the other kids around here really don't seem to like me, except that Bryan kid who's never downright me to me, just doesn't talk a bunch."_

_Taking her wrist I swing her around a corner and whisper for her to follow my footsteps and stay close behind in case S.H.I.E.L.D. agents discover our plan before it really takes off, I want to make sure Tara doesn't get hurt, she's been through enough pain through rejection of people just like her, I can handle more pain then she could ever possibly handle._

_Counting down from five seconds when I hit zero in my head the bomb explodes sending a cloud of smoke rippling upwards, the heat from the flames manipulating anyone looking at the wall behind the intense flames by warping everything behind it's invisible wall. The subject holding doors slam open as the explosion wiped out the security box that keeps the doors manually locked._

_The rest of the children kept in the other four rooms come bustling out all looking stunned as if they thought I was lying about breaking them out. All I told them was as soon as they head a loud exploding noise to kick the doors open and it seems like they understood that order pretty well. _

_"Take that hallway there, the one up ahead and take the first hallway on your left, it'll lead you to the back of S.H.I.E.L.D's facility. Guards aren't stationed in that position, watch each others back, even if you don't like each other because we're a family now whether or not you like it so protect them like you would if they were the reason you breathe. Tara, go with them," I look up at them. "That includes her, if one hair on her head is damaged by your hands, I'll personally inflict damage on my own accord, understood?"_

_"Wait," Tara exclaims, grabbing my arm as I was just about to walk away. "You're not coming with us, why?"_

_"I need to get rid of our files in S.H.I.E.L.D.'s data base and if there's only me in the building I won't be worrying as much about you five, I'll meet up with you in five minutes in that small coffee shop down town, alright?"_

_They nodded and I watched them dart down the hallway I directed them too. Turning away I head towards the main control room of S.H.I.E.L.D. in search of the main computer Nick Fury uses._

* * *

"Shay," I hear a voice to my left, turning I look up to see my crew, realizing that it's early morning and everyone's already awake. Just as I open my mouth to tell them about what I read in the files Nate raises a hand to stop me from speaking.

"Go to bed Shay, you need sleep more then the rest of us and we can talk about those when you wake up."

"Is that what you all want?" I ask, looking around at all their faces seeing the unanimous vote without them even opening their mouths. "Alright, if anything happens wake me up."

"We will Shay, we need you in the best state when we analyze what's just happened in that last twenty-four hours. Goodnight Shay," Nathan finishes.

"Goodnight guys," I say, heading back into Tara and Ciara's bedroom seeing the messy bed. Crawling into the still warm blanket as soon as I enter the warmth of it my eyes grow heavy and despite my protests of wanting to remain awake in case of an attack exhaustion wins and before I know it my vision fade into tunnel vision before zipping into total darkness and all my thoughts have left me.


	4. Gunshots in a Coffee Shop

_Chapter Four: Gunshots in a Coffee Shop_

**_It is great to be back for the next chapter and I know Shay seems like such a mystery and that will expand its way through the novel but I have a good reason behind it all. She's a complicated character, but what I want to know is, based on your limited knowledge of Shay, what do you think of her, is she to mean, dramatic, too cold, I want to know what you all think and when I reveal why she's this way I'll ask again what you think of her and see if your opinions change. Be sure to follow and favorite this story and leave me comments to the question above! Or just plain old review, take your pick._**

* * *

Stepping out of the bathroom with a white towel wrapped tightly around my drenched hair, containing it away in a private cocoon to entrap all the liquid from dripping onto my dry clothes, I notice my crew waiting patiently for me all seated in the chairs in the living room, leaving the rocking chair vacant for me, or so I assume. It's thirty minutes past two and just by the annoyed expression on her face, I can tell Tara's craving her morning coffee.

Sitting down in the rocking chair I notice the folders have been moved to the coffee tables center, glancing up I notice that all the eyes of my crew are purposely fixated on me, lingering with questions, none of which I can decrypt from their gaze.

"Based on this silence I think it's fair to assume that you all have examined and looked over the files as well during my sleep."

They nod before Tara looks at me with a gaze that tells me what she's going to do next. "Shay, first of all I'm dying of coffee deprivation. You all know how awful I am without receiving my daily coffee fix and secondly, how the hell did HYDRA get those files in the first place, don't get me wrong, I know you're no Albert Einstein when it comes to tech but you deleted the files ten years ago right?"

"I did, sure it was only a year after..." I trail off, shaking my head. No need to bring that up, they don't need to know. "S.H.I.E.L.D. must have had the files about us backed-up on a spare computer or had copies on a flashdrive because I did wipe the slate of the mainframe computer absolutely blank."

"Why do they want us though?" Tarben interjects, running his fingers through his hair cognizant of his own actions.

"Since we're clones of..." Ciara starts, her small dog tail ponytail bouncing as she speaks but is swiftly cut off by Tara who's flare and dramatic personality takes over, I swear that girl, if we went to high school, would be a theater major, she's like a modern day Marilyn Monroe except she has brown hair instead of blond.

"Are you stupid? We're creations from the DNA of planet Earth, well except you Tarben, of the worlds greatest superhero's and you have DNA from Thor, the God of Thunder from Asgard so of course HYDRA would want us as their bitches, it's like bending the Avengers over a desk and fucking them in the ass repetitively just to say_ 'ha! ha! look what we have that you don't'_ and they'd exploit our abilities against our..."

_Parents. _She was going to say parents only, they aren't. The oh-so-great Avengers that save New York from the evil reign of Loki's army are not our parents, we're their doppelgangers, products of scientific experimentation of special DNA that landed in the hands of S.H.I.E.L.D. and HYDRA with the exception of me of course. They're not the ones charged with the misfortune of creating such a pathetic clone of the _great_ Captain America, in other words, me.

"Predecessors..." she finishes her sentence, sitting back down in her seat.

Glancing around the room at them all I push all my memories back down my throat and into the back of my mind. "We need to be extremely careful, especially with HYDRA after us. If they're around you know the Avengers can't been to far behind on realizing that HYDRA is still lurking, the last thing we need is the Avengers snooping around us."

"Would it really be so bad, if they found out I mean?" Tarben asks, dark blue eyes shifting up to meet my gaze.

Beating me to the punch Bryan takes the honor of explaining why it's a bad idea for them to learn of our existence. "Shay's right, we can't trust them and do you really think they'll trust, or even believe what we have to say? Whose side do you think they'll take? A bunch of teenagers or Director Nick Fury who they all know from both group and single encounters. Besides if Fury finds out where we are he'll..."

"He won't give two shits about locking us away in cages like the lab rats he claims we are. Besides, we all want to know if we're anything like our predecessors, if we measure up, but we'll never know so we should just accept it," Tara finishes. "Now, about my coffee..."

"I don't," my voice sounds after a few minutes of utter silence. "I'm nothing like him, my predecessor, I know that for sure and I'd rather pop my eyes out with an ice cream scoop than voluntarily meet him on my own terms and conditions."

"In your file" Nate starts, his dark green eyes lowered as if glued to the floor. "There's hardly any information on you, and there something about release from CC date. What does that mean Shay?"

Displaying an emotionless face and in a monotone voice say, "Something that's better left in the past."

Getting up from the rocking chair I pull the towel loose, my blond hair falling down around my face, it's damp unlike before when it was absolutely soaked. Entering the girls bedroom I lift the bed up, resting it against the wall and hook my fingers around a metal hook attached to the wood floor and yank upwards pulling the floor cover free to reveal a small square in the floor big enough to fit three hands.

Reaching in I pull out a bag of change, taking out the amount needed for what all I plan on getting before putting the left over coins back into the floor while dropping the extracted coins into a fresh zip-lock baggy and re-situating the room. It may seem odd to some but since this is a safe house I always have a reserve of cash that should last from nearly a month is used wisely because who knows how long it'll be until I can get a job and just because I don't have a job doesn't mean we stop being hungry.

Stepping back into the living room everyone's eye skirt to me. Plastering a false smile on my face I decided to use a feelings facade. "I'm heading to Tara's favorite coffee shop, do the rest of you want anything?"

They all agree on getting a dozen glazed donuts and I oblige seeing as I myself have a craving for something sweet. Borrowing Tara's bright green and white fur embedded hoodie I head out the door with my head lowered and the hood pulled up, hiding my quickly drying blond locks. The walk to the coffee shop takes an extra fifteen minutes since the safe house is much father away from town then the warehouse was.

As I near the shop I can't help but feel as though something isn't quite right, similar to the feeling I felt after the fire, like someone is watching me. Instead of frantically whipping my head like a normal paranoid person would do, I instead subtly turn my head left then right as if searching for a friend or family member in the crowd of bustling New Yorkers.

Glancing behind me I see no one out of the ordinary but then again HYDRA is know for blending in and infiltrating agencies so I can't judge based on false imitations. Turning back around I see the coffee shop which sits on the street corner with hardly any taxis in the lot dropping people off. A bell chimes and jingles out the loud ringing clang as I step through the door.

Pulling down the hood of the hoodie I glance around at the surprisingly small number of people in the booths. A family consisting of a mother, father, and a daughter around six sit together on a booth on the East wall. An elderly couples sits together on high risen chairs while sipping some sort of hot drink as I can see the steam radiating out from the cup.

Moseying my way over to the counter I'm greeted by a woman in her late teens with long medium red hair, freckles dancing along her cheeks and over her nose, and honey-brown eyes. Just by looking at her a sense of familiarity falls over me, I know her. Amber McAdams, her family came into Mei's restaurant and when her parents found out I excel in history they offered to pay me good wages to tutor her.

"Oh my gosh! Shaylene, is that really you?" she asks, a little to loud and excited for my licking.

"The one and only..."

She give a wide, perfect-toothed smile. "You've gotten really pretty and thanks to you I passed American Heritage my Senior year of high school with flying colors. My teacher back then thought I was cheating, that's how amazing I did on my homework assignments and tests!"

"I'm happy for you" I lie, feigning a smile.

"BTW you're way more accurate than that history textbook, there was a typo in the book saying some ancient event in history took place twenty years after it had already ended."

"What event was it?" I ask, pretending to have any interest in this conversation despite not caring at all but I don't plan on being rude about it so I'll let her explain whatever she wants saved me some time away from the safe house where I'll be asked 21 questions about my past.

"Something about civil," she twirls her hair flippantly as if she's oblivious to how vacuous it makes her appear.

"You mean the Civil War?" I snap, catching the attention of everyone in the coffee shop, I can feel all there eyes shift to me. "That war isn't all that ancient, it started in 1861 and ended four years later. If you do the math, that's only a hundred and fifty years ago, not ancient."

"Girl that's a long ass time ago so it totes falls under the ancient category, now what can I get you?"

Biting my tongue I go on ordering Tara's vanilla cream coffee and a dozen glazed donuts, all to go. I watch as Amber takes a Styrofoam cup and starts filling it up with the hot liquid when all of a sudden tension fills the air, it's so thick it could be cut with a knife. Turning slightly I see a man in a black trench coat, dark sunglasses blocking his eyes from view, and a similarly colored fedora angled low on his head as if to hide his face from my already seeing eyes.

_CRACK! CRACK! CRACK!_ The sound of gun fire sounds from the Browning BDM he's packing. Bullets decorate the dull yellow wall behind me, some of the bullets spiraling over my head as I drop to the floor in a crouching position. Using the counter which separates the employees and the customers as a ramp, I kick off and out of the middle of the floor and away from Trench Coat who stands in the main aisle, his pistol already reloaded.

My gaze sweeps across the room assessing the situation. The elderly couple is cluster up together underneath the towering table while the family of three are all underneath the booths table. Trench Coat steps forward and yanks the little girl out from under the table and her parents screams and wails or horror and fear breaks my heart. Trench Coat aims the gun at the child's temple and I rise to my feet.

"Put. Her. Down. Now," I tell him. He obliges, slamming the girl to the ground. With wet eyes the child scrambles back under the table and into the warm embrace of her family, I'd rather die a thousand deaths than have a family ripped apart because this HYDRA agent is after me. Treading next to the table where the family cowers I see them in my peripheral vision and I can see the relief in their eyes but then the fear when they really get a close look at me.

Their eyes clearly show that they can tell I'm not older then seventeen. It was either her or me and I'd rather her live and change the world than have me be around, she deserves it more considering she's actually born not made by scientist. That girl has a future, unlike me, and a family, parents who love her, unlike me, she's the clear choice, anyone can see that.

"Come," he says in a deep, almost rumbling voice, pointing the gun at me and nodding his head toward the counter door leading into what I assume in the kitchen area. I obey his demand and step in that direction and as I enter the kitchen I see Amber cowering on the floor in the fetal position but am relived when Trench Coat seemingly forgets the family he almost destroyed.

As soon as the gray metal door comes into view it all makes sense, the back exit is the easiest way to escape without a large cluster of people seeing me held a gunpoint. Trench Coat lets the door slam shut behind him and I notice that the back parking lot is much emptier then one would expect but without anymore time to think and plan out a sensible strategy I spring into action.

Spinning around I slam my foot into his ankle and Trench Coat jump back, howling out in pain as I tightly grip his wrist and bend his arm to the right trying to force him to release the gun. Using his free hand he digs his fingers into the fabric of my shirt and using his strength swings us around in a half circle and slams me back against the wall of the coffee shop and positions himself between my legs, pinning me against it.

Anger fills his now revealed gray eyes. Our scuffle must have knocked his sunglasses off. They lay on the ground in a million pieces, crushed under his heavy black combat boots.

"He's spent a long time search for you darlin'," Trench Coat purrs in my ear. Chills creep up my spine as I _really _feel him up against me and as much as I want to lash out and rely on brute strength like Tarben I instead scan the area trying to plan a more tactical escape method.

"Who is he?" is my response even though I'm not really listening at all. Then I see it, on the roof, if I can... and that would snap... then I could... and he would... I've got it, my plan and it'll work for sure.

"What people today would refer to as a relic from another time. He has great plans for you Shaylene, you may have everyone else fooled but we know, he knows about your... mirror condition and how whenever you look into it y—"

"Times up," I say, twisting the gun upwards and aiming it at a loose metal bracket supporting a metal chain used to support the large hard plastic coffee cup placed on the top of the building for advertisements and recognition. The extraordinarily large cup tips over, falling straight down upon us. Using the wall as a spring board I slam my shoulder into his chest over and over against and the second time we collide he looses his grip on me and looses his balance and colliding into the concrete parking lot with a_ thud!_

The gun falls from his grip and slide across the pavement and I roll out of the way just in time to avoiding being hit by the falling coffee cup but I can tell from the cries and groans that the HYDRA agent is trapped under in due to his feet poking out on the other side of the cup. The wailing of sirens is when I start to take my leave but as I turn to go I see Amber standing in the doorway with a box of a dozen donuts and Tara's coffee placed carefully on top.

She looks a bit shaken up but that's only to be expected from someone whose never been in this situation before. "On the house, after what you did in there," she nods to the coffee shop. "You deserve this, you're a hero Shaylene."

"No," I say, glaring at her. Amber slinks back, eyes wide with what I can only conclude to be fear. Of what? _Me?_

"E-excuse me?" she squeaks, looking down at her white nurse shoes as if they're the most interesting thing in the world.

"I'm not a hero, what I did is what anyone would do, that's it. There's no need to give me special treatment," stepping forward I drop the bag of change at her feet and take the donuts and drink and turn just walking away, never even looking back to see if she picked up the bag of money.

Amber's words ring over and over in my head like a bad song on the radio. What she said leaves a bad taste in my mouth, _hero_. I can feel it crawling back up again, fingers digging at the dirt, trying to get out but I won't let it. Shoving it all back down I rebury the grave. No I am not a hero and I don't want to be. I saved that family because anyone else would and that mindset proves this I won't ever be... I'm nothing like him.


	5. Ex-Agent in the Warehouse

_Chapter Five: Ex-Agent in the Warehouse_

**_Welcome again dear readers, time to get the ball rolling soon but first things will happen in this chapter that may make you question the world around you—Okay I'm totally kidding it is a fanfiction, it would be weird if it explained the meaning of life and whatnot. So be sure to follow and favorite this story and leave me lots of comments and if you have any questions for me of the series leave those down below!_**

* * *

Tara is the one who opens the door after I finish knocking our secret code on the safe house to let then know it was me. She has her brown hair down in straight strands that fall over her shoulders in large clusters but she doesn't seem to notice. Her gleaming honey-brown eyes dance from my face to the vanilla cream coffee sitting on top of the donuts box. Reaching forward she curls her fingers around Styrofoam cup, proceeding to take a large gulp before pulling it away from her lips and retreating back into the depths of the safe house.

Just as I'm about to enter the house I notice a loose pasty yellow sticky note on the door frame. Taking the sticky note I go inside, shut the door behind me, and drop the donuts on the kitchen counter with a loud _smack_. The small note jotted down on the sticky pad appears to be written in pencil and is someones actual handwriting as if there was no time for typing a message.

_Location B; Possible location of escaped subjects. Search location A down main road near northeastern alley—abandoned warehouse recently exploded—shows probable evidence as being a hideout for runaway subjects of perhaps living on previously mentioned premises ~ H_

Taking out a single glazed doughnut I turn, just about to head back out the door when a voice makes me stop in my tracks.

"Where are you going Shay?" It's Ciara.

Spinning around to face my concerned sounding friend I wave the note in front of her before handing it over for her to examine the words for herself. I watch as he grayish-blue eyes skim over the words a moment before she gives the sticky note back to me.

"Do you want us to come with you?" she asks and I can see the begging in her eyes for me to say yes. As much as I want to say no I give in and instead make her a compromise.

"Fine, I'll let one person come with me, the five of you decide which one will be tagging along."

Ciara nods instantly and spins on her heels and retreats and as I watch her go I see her light brown, bob tail hair bounce with each step as she gathers the crew in the hallways center. They all whisper in hushed tones, tones so quiet that any normal person would be able to hear them but I'm not normal. I already know the results before they sent the victor over to me.

In all honesty, I'm not surprised that they choose Nathan considering the person we're about to face may speak another language and fighting someone who you have no idea what they're saying is never a good idea. I watch Nate as he straps his set of daggers to his black boots and hides his set Hi-Point .45 ACP pistols in the waistband of his jeans.

While he does that I swipe my set Ruger P89's off the living room table and hide them in the immensely large pockets of Tara's hoodie. "Ready?" I ask him , just before heading out the door, Nathan not far behind.

The first few minutes of the walk to the warehouse is spent in silence until Nate decides to speak, not that I'm complaining. All my mind is focused on is the coffee shop and what that guys said.

"I'm sorry..." is what he says.

"For what?" I asks. "You haven't done anything to offend me Nate."

He shakes his head, giving a fake laugh. "I had no right to interrogate you like I did, about the file especially considering all that you've done for us."

"Not _us_ as in the five of you but us as in the six of us, myself included. I wanted to escape from that prison as much as the rest of you so it's not like it's anything special so you all can stop acting like I'm some sort of hero."

"Yeah, but you're the only one to actually make the escape happen and saving those people from that burning building, you are a hero Shay and if anyone of us live up to out predecessors reputation it would be you._ Not that I'd want to live up to mine..._" he mumbles the last part.

"Don't!" I shout, shooting him a warning glare that says _'drop the subject about me.' _Looking away, my teeth remain gritted and I'm surprised I haven't chipped a tooth already. I clench my fists as I feel the rage bubbling up after what Nate said, I'm not mad at him though, no that'd make this easier, instead I'm angry at myself for letting my true colors show.

"Shay," I hear Nate's voice and feel him nudge my shoulder lightly, trying to capture my gaze but I keep my eyes down at the ground. "Tell me what happened back then that makes you this distant now."

I shake my head frantically, closing my eyes, trying to push it all back down into the dark and hidden part of my soul. "Please," my voice cracks and I give a grunt of disgust at the tears filling my closed eyelids and emotional behavior. "Please Nathan, forget about everything you saw in my file because it's in the past and I'm trying to move forward. I don't want to think about what happened."

After the tears in my eyelids slink back inside I open my eyes to see Nathan's reluctant nod at my plea.

"It's you and rest of the crews files that have my focus."

"Why, what did you notice in the files, a pattern or something?" he asks, looking over at me. I no longer look at the ground but now look up at the world in front of me.

"592, 164, 732, 85.5, and 498 those were the middle numbers in each of your subject identification code and all the numbers are different but back when S.H.I.E.L.D. was still in operation—" Nathan finishes for me.

"Numbers are never just number, they all have some meaning."

I nod at him. "Exactly but I'm not sure what the number means and I have a bad feeling about them too."

Again we get quiet but even in the silence I can feel the topic shift.

"It seems so foreign, doesn't it. What with S.H.I.E.L.D. out of commission and what happened in Washington D.C. and all the secure information on all S.H.I.E.L.D's computers were released to the world wide web. I read all about her, my predecessor, saw her history, what she's done, missions for both the KGB as well as S.H.I.E.L.D. all the people both good and evil she's killed."

I glance over at him, noticing his hands shaking slightly at his side. It isn't very often that Nathan opens up about what he's feeling but when he does it's always good to be quiet and listen but none of the others ever hear what he feels as I'm the only one he'll tell anything personal to.

"I remember sitting there in the public library just looking at it and thinking to myself _'is that what I'll turn out to be?'_ There are just so many awful things she's done and I'm not blaming her but I started wondering if that's how I will/would have turned out, you know, kill people on someone else's orders but then I think about you and what you've taught me over the years. And you always do the right thing Shay."

I give a mock laugh, my lip twitching slightly.

"Okay, nine times out of ten you do the right thing because you're good for the sake of good and if it wasn't for you I'd lie and kill in the service of liars and killers just like she did and I don't want that sort of guilt to haunt me. You're not haunted Shay and I don't want to be."

_Yes I am, more then you'll ever know Nathan. I am haunted everyday of my life._

**_"You need to be better! Stronger! Faster!"_**

I take a deep breath but the words, no memories, from the past resurface again and I can't push them back.

**_"Shaylene, you are worthless, a complete waste of genetic material! Why do I keep you around!?"_**

My heart pounds and my head spins and I want to scream. Scream and make it all go away but I won't and it wouldn't help and I'm left to fight my internal demons all on my own, just like always.

"Shay?" Nate says, shaking me.

I look up at him mouth dry and heart still racing in my chest. "Yeah...?" I croak out.

"Are you alright?"

"Fine..." I trail off when I notice that we're at the warehouse. The entire side of the once Statue of Liberty green siding in scorched and tinted a dark, grueling black with markings that would give a child nightmares. Shattered glass resides ubiquitously across the alley and the smell of smoke remains in the air but we stay on our guard.

Nathan pulls out his pistol and I have one of mine pulled out and aimed as well, ready for anything. Just as we're about to conclude this a bust after waiting around for nearly thirty minutes a dark shadow moves towards us and we re-aim our weapons ready to fire.

"Shaylene Griselda and Nathan Alianov, it's been a while, ten years I believe."

We both hesitate at the voice, we know that voice. Out of the shadows steps Maria Hill, a former deputy director and member of S.H.I.E.L.D. and who was close with Nick Fury. She was in high enough ranks to know about the existence of the six of us, or as they saw us, **Project: Last Resort**. It was a program in which case one of the_ 'real Avengers_' ever failed or died and the world need a backup super team that was us, my team and I.

That's what we were for but I wasn't up for being another groups little lab rat who played by the rules. I was unruly and defiant and no matter how many hard and extensive punishments I received I kept defying them. It wasn't anything compared to what used to happen to me before S.H.I.E.L.D. so their tasks didn't effect me much at all.

Her brown hair is tied back in a tight bun and her face is a stern and emotionless as it was when Nathan and I were still in S.H.I.E.L.D.'s control. I keep my gun raised and place my pointed finger on the trigger, ready to fire if I have too. Nathan on the other hand drops him arm lower, the gun aimed at the ground, he won't have the nerve to shoot her, the two of them were close, it's all on me to do what might be necessary.

"Shaylene, I'm not here to hurt you—"

"Shut it, give me one reason not to shoot you right this second Hill, you better make it good because I'm a great shot, I won't miss. I think both you and I know it so start talking."

"S.H.I.E.L.D. is disbanded and Nick Fury didn't send me here to look for you. I'm here on behalf of gaining information of possible HYDRA agents in this area, I believe they are plotting something very dangerous and I needed all the information you have on them," she explains voice not faltering at all.

"Why ask us? You haven't seen us in a decade, what makes you think we have any connections with HYDRA?"

Lowering the gun I see Maria drop her hands from their surrendering position and land at her sides in our plain view so we'll know if she's reaching for something in her pocket, that must be why she put her hands there.

"Six teenagers don't just blow up a warehouse they've been living in for just any boring reason, it must have been something big and then I saw a HYDRA pin inside and that tipped me off that HYDRA must be after something."

"More like someone," I reply.

"What" she asks.

"They want all of us, but mostly Shay," Nathan tells her, that's when I see it, in her ear. A comm unit, this was a trap all along and Maria Hill must realize that I know because she jumps into action.

"Sir, I've locate Subject Nathan and Shaylene, get down here to—"

A loud exploding and deafening pop rings through the air and Nathan looks at his gun but then looks to me when he see my hand on the recently pulled trigger. Blood drips from her leg and I shake my head, pushing the image away and I tell Nathan to go and get ahead. He needs to be safe, even if they get me I want him to get away. Stepping forward I take the comm unit from her ear and press my foot into her should lightly kicking her back as she falls on the floor.

Her face is red and she clutches her leg in excruciating pain. I put the comm unit in and already know who's on the line.

"You loose again Nick Fury. Game Over," I drop the comm and step on it, enjoying the loud crunch of wiring and then turn, running the way Nathan had, desperate to catch up, we need to relocate, again. This week is just getting worse and worse and now Nick Fury and HYDRA both know we're in New York City, great, great, just great...


	6. What Lies Within the Trees

Chapter_ Six: What Lies Within the Trees_

**_Welcome back to my insane story about the avengers kids, recap? Okay, so Maria Hill attempted to capture Shay and Nate but that plan didn't go over to well when Shay showed her how she would shoot someone in the leg if necessary. Now follow, and favorite my story and be sure to leave comments on what you think, also what do you think happens with Shay's 'mirror' condition, just curious to your theories?_**

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The sun's starting to set and the bright yellow ray of light burns my tired, highly strained eyes. After Nathan and my encounter with Maria Hill we told the rest of the crew what occurred in the quickest summary possible and packed as much stuff as we could. I made sure to grab the bag of reserved money from its hiding hole to have it for emergencies.

Shaking my head it finally dawns on me that we've been walking for just over five hours and night hasn't even fallen yet but looking back at them I can see how tired they all, however, its nothing compared to my own tiredness. Even through the small hazy of tiredness in the back of my mind I hear my brain internally whispering a piece of awful but true fact. _My fault._

It's my fault we have to run again, because of my decision which alerted Maria Hill, one of Nick Fury's most trusted allies, of our presence in New York City, which is the last think the six of us want. It'd all my fault and is something I can't undo, I've been careless and that's a fatal flaw in this business and they could have died due to my carelessness and that's not acceptable.

As if sensing my self-loathing Tara steps to my side and wraps her arms around my right arm and rests her head on my shoulder as a way of comforting me. Despite Tara not being to involved at expressing her sentimentality or perhaps she's just no good at it, nonetheless, I appreciate the gesture and effort on her part because she didn't have to try and make me feel better.

"What do you think her plan was?" Tara asks in a whisper, her head still resting lightly on my shoulder as we walk just away from the city streets and in a small, wooded area in town.

"Who?" Tarben's voice rumbles somewhere behind us. "Maria Hill?"

"No, Frosty the Snowman. Yes Maria Hill jackass," Tara snaps with sarcasm heavy in her voice, still her head doesn't relocate from my shoulder, not that I mind, I'm too focused on the area to notice anyways.

"You don't have to be mean about it," is his response. "Jeez..."

"I mean," Tara continues as if he never interrupted her. "She must have had a plan and with Baldy on the other side of the comm units line obviously they're still in contact and on good terms so... Do you think they're banging!?"

Tara's head pops up from my shoulder and I choke on my own spit which leads into a fitful coughing session in the middle of the wooded area where we stop for a small break. Tara continues on with this ludicrous theory her brains concocted about all the 'evidence' that proves her so-called hypothesis on how they would hook up and why they would be together in the first place.

"—doubt that he can even get it up anymore," Bryan's saying when I finally tune back into the still lively conversation about Hill and Fury and all this talk about that makes me want to throw up. Tara lets out a long laugh after what Bryan said before wiping imaginary tears from her eyes and tries to regain control of her breathing.

"That's probably true and beside them old ass dudes get that erectile dysfunction and can't, you know, anymore. Plus why would anyone want to..." Tara pauses, shuttering at whatever her though was. "...reproduce with that? You've got to be pretty desperate."

They all laugh with the exclusion of half of us: Nathan, Ciara, and I don't find it amusing and all I can focus on is those numbers in our files which Nathan has in his backpack and HYDRA. What could they be after? I understand that they want me but why? We're nothing in comparison to our predecessors so why are they so determined to have us in the grasps? Along those same lines. it's still insane that Nick Fury and his former agents are still after us.

When those HYDRA agents came to the warehouse, they were looking for something that they obviously didn't find. I thought they were looking for us but just maybe they were doing something else and I was dead wrong. Maybe they were trying to find something HYDRA needs but instead found us instead and they decided to capture us to use us against the Avengers.

That's when another thing crosses my mind, during our escape all those years ago I recall something Nick Fury had said over the intercom and while he and his crew were mildly concerned with our escape they didn't care as much, or at least not like they should when six clones of the Avengers escape from a secure S.H.I.E.L.D. base and hide away in the city of New York.

_"Hurry up and get that out of here," _I recall Fury shouting out. _"Send it to the base in New York, U.G, location 68.9° in SW region, guard it with you life and keep it away from them!"_

Whatever Nick Fury sent to this base must be what HYDRA is really after and the six of us are the icing on the beautiful crafted, sugar and HYDRA fused icing on the not so delicious cake. Guess we need to make a small stop before finding another safe house to hide away in, the one we're going to next is on the outskirts of New York City.

"There's a former S.H.I.E.L.D. base in the area, we need to find it," I say so suddenly that everyone goes silent.

"What! Are you insane?" Tara glares at me, somewhat annoyed. "Haven't we butted our nose around enough, I mean every time we look for clues and answers the closer we get more roadblocks and closer to being like the live-action _Looney Tunes_ movie. I don't want to be Bugs Bunny when he repeatedly gets shoved down into that guys pants."

"Excuse me?" I raise an eyebrow.

Tara rolls her eyes. "It a movie and one of the main characters a rabbit and they took the cartoon story and made a live-action adaptation of the film and that's one of the events that occur in the film."

We all look at her, confused by the sudden knowledge on cartoons originally from the 30's. Well, I know it's from then, I doubt everyone else does though, only I do seeing as I may as well be a living textbook, _whoopee! _Not.

"Well at least one section of that film had the creepy man shoving that bunny down his pants, that's all I'm saying."

Raising my hands in a I'm-so-over-it sort of way I reply. "I don't even want to know anymore about this weird pants topic."

"Agreed," the rest of the group chorused.

Tara shakes her head then flips her brown hair over her shoulder. "Right, right, to the point. Every time we do something good, an event much worse happens after, so why look for this base when HYDRA most definitely knows about it?"

"No," I shake my head, "if they did, I doubt they would have searched the warehouse, when they were there those agents were looking for something, something really specific."

"I noticed that too," Ciara chimes in, tightening her ponytail. "The second they barged in they started digging around and moving stuff around. You and Tara were still in the basement, we called for you, but they seemed surprised when they saw us."

"When I was at the coffee shop, a HYDRA agent attacked me and said something about _'him'_ searching a very long time for me. That's the only thing that contradicts that idea."

"Wait, HYDRA agents attacked you in the coffee shop and you decided to leave us in the dark about it!?" Nathan growls at, narrowing his cold, dark green eyes at me as if I stabbed him in the back.

"It was only one agent so..." I trail off, gazing around the perimeter in search of the right degrees for where the base opening is located at on the Southwest side of the area. In the corner of my eyes I see Tara zip up her fluffy green zip-up hoodie I returned to her as a chilly breeze blows by us.

"You don't think HYDRA was looking for us, that there's something else that they want more?" Bryan asks, restating all the information previously stated just moments ago.

"How'd you hear about this supposed S.H.I.E.L.D. base in New York anyways, It's not like the Bearded Child Wonder would just tell you where the clusters of secret bases reside, unless he was dropped on his head as a child."

The number finally click and instead of reacting to Tara's comment I move forward and they follow behind me now elapsing into a comfortable silents as I make my way to the location the base should be. Instead of what I expected to find, instead a large oak wood tree sits in the bases place but the tree looked... Wrong, especially in the middle of this small wooded area.

This tree didn't look nearly good enough to be living enough so I run my hands along the bark of the tree and find a small dip in the section between the bark and the tree and pull the bark from it, revealing it to be some sort of false, tree bark feeling paper. A large doorway's been caved into it, I grab the doorknob pulling it back. The inside of the tree smells of saw dust and us pitch black from inhibiting any light from passing through the tree.

Seeing as I'm the group leader I climb in first, now with my pistols locked and loaded in my hands now that I've removed them from the waistband of my jeans. After me: Tara, then Nathan, Ciara, Tarben, and finally Bryan. We all stand on some sort of platform but as soon as Bryan steps all the way in the door on the tree closes and we're trapped inside.

We're all smashed together in the tiny platform and the air is hot and heavy from our breath and body heat combined.

"It's so hot in here!" Tarben moans somewhere in the dark.

"Whose hand's on my ass?" Tara pipes in from my left.

"Don't worry, it's only me and it's not on, it's pressed against your ass and not by my choice" Ciara replies.

Anxious to get out of this hot, tiny compartment I start feeling the wall behind my in search of something, anything to get us out of here. My finger pause when I feel a round, almost flat button against the wall. I press the button, not caring anymore and just wanting to get out. Screams fill the air as the platform falls giving off the same feeling that an elevator would provide.

When the doors open everyone pushes and shoves their way out and once they all fall on the floor, gasping for air, I casually stroll from the elevator as if the heat didn't effect me, which it really didn't bug me that bad. Glancing around I can't help but notice they freezing laboratory type temperature of the hallway. I can't help but get the chills and goosebumps run up my spine and down my arms by seeing the similarity this base has to the one we were trapped in.

Long metal hallways, both walls and floors that reflect a metallic silver color from the lights overhead. I put all my uncomfortable feelings aside as I enter the doorway leading to a room with a large computer screen bolted to the wall in front of me and a keyboard on the bright snow colored desk which wraps perfectly around the oval shaped room.

To my right I see a large white metal door which has six words written on it: **Containment of DNA Preservation Lab Ahead**. Figuring that's where we need to go I walk toward it and my crew get back to their feet and darts over to me, following right behind as I turn the handle and open the doorway. Which reveals a set of stairs which we fly up in a matter of minutes.**  
**

After about three or four sets of twenty-four stairs per set we reach a long narrow hallway which smells on bleach and some other type of cleaning product which means the base must have either been cleaned really recently or that no one's been here to contaminate the smell since the cleaning of this base. I don't know which one I prefer.

When we reach the final doorway I step forward and shove the door open using my brute strength but none of us are prepared for what we see on the inside of the room or on the other side of the door.


	7. HYDRA in a Blood Bank

_Chapter Seven: HYDRA in a Blood Bank_

**_Yes, there's still more to this story, I know you're all so disappointed, JK! Anyways so last time, last time, what did happen? Oh well, guess you'll have to go back and look—Fine! I'll post a recap jeez... Be sure to follow and favorite this story and leave me comments on this story!_**

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**Recap:**

_After about three or four sets of twenty-four stairs per set we reach a long narrow hallway which smells on bleach and some other type of cleaning product which means the base must have either been cleaned really recently or that no one's been here to contaminate the smell since the cleaning of this base. I don't know which one I prefer._

_When we reach the final doorway I step forward and shove the door open using my brute strength but none of us are prepared for what we see on the inside of the room or on the other side of the door._

* * *

Shaking away the general surprise of the dark, square room which is normally blocked by what appears to be a bookshelf that has been pushed open, revealing an open doorway. We walk forward and unlike the hidden room behind—as it turns out to be— the bookshelf is a rectangular room. This second room, unlike the first, isn't dark but instead glows with a bluish shade from the light of the full moon outside.

A cherry wood office desk lays in the rooms center, completely overturned as if someone threw the desk over on purpose. Loose papers are strewn out all across the room and along the white tile floors as if someone left in a hurry. A dark brown, sticky liquid of what I assume to be coffee is splayed out over the tiles and tainted the stray papers in brown tinted corners.

"Clearly the owners of this place have never heard of interior decorators," Tara mutters, looking at the full extent of disarray the medium, eleven by eleven foot room really is in.

Bryan walks up to me, dark brown eyes meeting mine and for a moment he tugs at his black coat as if to straighten it before speaking. "I-I think that we're in New York's DNA and Blood Testing Facility. It-it only closed down about, what was it? Five years ago. Something about illegal animal and human test subjects."

"What sort of tests?" Nathan asks, stepping to Bryan's left.

"I don't know, it was something about, uh, injecting humans with animal DNA and animals with human DNA trying to establish a new and more developed species that can better adapt to an always changing environment, as you all can probably guess," Bryan said, looking to Nathan. "The procedures were complete failures. All the, all the test subjects died three hours after the injection."

"Why would Nick Fury send something so super important to a ghetto, shutdown DNA Test Facility with enough street cred to be apart of the worlds creepiest facilities?" Tarben asks, brushing past the four of us. I follow him with my eyes and watch as he kneels down to examine the stray papers on the ground, searching for useful information, or so I assume.

"It's wasn't an item," it suddenly dawns on me, it's like clue that's standing at point blank range and I just couldn't hit the right mark until now. Nathan, Bryan, and Tara all look over at me as I piece it all together.

"Perhaps it's DNA" Ciara chimes in, leaning back against the wall beside the bookshelf, arms crossed over her chest as she looks off into the distances of the closed door on the other side of the room.

"Whatever Nick Fury sent here that he didn't want us, or HYDRA, to get our hands on has to be some sort of DNA that must have some relevance between HYDRA and the good side of S.H.I.E.L.D. and if HYDRA wants it, it must be pretty important," Nathan pipes in.

Without another word I nod to my crew to follow, which they do, as I led them into the door. As quiet as I can, my fingers curl around the doorknob and twist, letting the door fall open by the force of gravity. Stepping out into the hallway I hear Tara gasp in horror at the three dead corpses I hadn't failed to notice when I entered.

Blood is splattered along the white walls and blood pools out from the bodies which are all three males, placed face down in their blood, and bullet holes decorating their backs. That explains the cause of death, one can only take so many bullets to the back before one penetrates a vital organ or shatters bone which has the capabilities to cut an artery which is most likely fatal.

Pulling my pistols from my waistband I take notice that Nathan has his guns out an stands in front of Tara who now stands between Nathan and Tarben. I narrow my eyes and start walking down the hall, occasionally hearing the fearful murmurs of Tara.

"Oh my God..." she moans, eyes dancing around at each of the tree bodies.

"Tara," she looks at me. "Don't look, keep your eyes on me, understood?"

She nods and starts trotting after Nathan like a lost puppy but her honey-brown eyes are heavy and brows creased and hands rapidly shaking at her sides. Ciara has her hand-carved bow raised and ready to fire with an arrow already notched in place. Bryan leans down and presses to fingers to the neck of one of the dead men and after a few seconds, pulls away and wearily glances at me.

"His body's still warm," Bryan announces rising to his feet.

"How long?" I ask, never looking away from the hallway in front of me.

"Thirty minutes at the least, so, whoever shot them might still be in this facility, somewhere," he responds before walking around me and heading somewhere in the back of the group.

"That explain smell of bleach in that hallway, clearly someone must have cleaned it not to long ago," Ciara points out, bow still raised and one eye closed. She's in perfect form to fire an on slot of HYDRA agents.

"Shit! So HYDRA is here, it's official we are SCREWED" Tara snaps, running her hands through her hair, taking heavy breaths.

"Calm down," Nathan growls in a low whispering tone. In response— like the mature sixteen year old she is— Tara sticks her tongue out at him and Nathan just rolls his eyes at her childish behavior. Suddenly, the pounding of footsteps fill the once silent air and my instincts take over. I point to a room on the left with an open doorway, it appears to be a laboratory with metal lab tables.

We silently creep inside the room and all cluster by the door which I nearly close, leaving on enough room for us to see what's occurring on the other side of the door. I listen to the ticking of a clock somewhere behind me. I'm crouched down, one knee drilling into the ground and one foot flat but in a bent position as the minutes tick by.

Just as everything seems to calm down, twenty men dressed in dark green uniforms, armed two guns held in holsters on each side of their the waistband of their slacks. Their HYDRA pins shinning bright on the left side of the uniform, just about the chest pocket. Unlike typical formation that would be expected of agents of a secret organization the men stand in an oval shape, strolling casually as if this is a local mall and not a shut done blood and DNA testing facility.

It takes a second glance but then I notice, this _is_ a formation, human blockade to protect the man in the center. Just as the twenty guards are about to pass by the man in front of the other nineteen people holds up a hand and comes to an abrupt stop. Placing an pointer finger at the bridge of his sun glasses, he lazily slides the black framed glasses down the bridge of his nose, scanning the area with his almost black eyes.

"Something isn't right here," the man says, gaze still darting around the room. "The air has been... disturbed by other people."

Lifting my gun up from it's aim on the ground I close an eye and line the gun up with the leaders knee, ready to fire if the need arises. Despite knowing I wont miss, I really would rather not shoot him because that will alert all the HYDRA agents in his unit and they'll start shooting at us and I'd want to take them out all at once to avoid that sort of situation.

Glancing over at Tarben who seems to sense my plan shakes his head no, but then, reluctantly seems to agree. _'When?'_ he mouths to me and I look away, watching the HYDRA agents. The man in front of the group starts towards our hiding spot.

"Tarben," I say in a urgent whisper. "Now!"

He hesitates, I can see the nervousness in his dark blue eyes but after only a second he springs into action. White and neon blue outline electricity swirls around his hand, aiming at the ground, he shoots a bolt which rattles the ground below us but then instead of the electricity fading away into nothingness they instead zip across the floor appearing as lightning snakes which fill the floor, taking down HYDRA agents one by one.

The lightning crackles as each man falls and in less then a minute all twenty of the agents lay on the ground, completely unconscious, perfect. Still on high alert, I slowly push the door open. We approach the HYDRA agents and when I glance back I see Tarben at a standstill in the room the rest of us just left, mind solely focused on his hand which is still sparking slightly from the use of lightning.

If it even needed to be said, Tarben doesn't use his powers over lightning and weather that often so it's sort of a bizarre and new sort of experience for him and he can't be blamed for feeling uncomfortable about it. His biggest fear, and reason for not using that aspect of his inherited abilities, has to do with the capabilities they have of hurting other people and because those types of events would certainly draw the Avengers attention.

Tearing my gaze away I notice the man in the middle dressed differently than his protection. Instead of a black uniform he wear a navy blue suit with what I assume to be a bulletproof vest underneath his shirt and over jacket. In his hands he holds a glass petri dish which didn't shatter upon impact with the solid tile floor meaning that the container is designed to withstand bullets and other kinds of impact.

Inside the glass dish is a mini punk chunk of something surrounded in a pool of deep, rose red liquid which can only be concluded to be the blood of whoever's name is probably imprinted on the petri dish. A slip of paper is attached to the top of the dish with an odd sort of identification with letters and numbers that must be someone's name and numbers that have some kind of meaning.

_A.Z-01-A01_

What does that mean? I run my fingers through my blond hair as I start pacing back and forth. Just what I need, more numbers and hidden S.H.I.E.L.D. codes encrypted with HYDRA and Nick Fury or Maria Hill able to decode it.

"Great," Nathan mutters, leaning back against a cylinder, ivory support beam placed in the large, wide open area.

"That has to be some sort of name, it's just—" Bryan says before I cut him off.

"Heavily encoded in traditional S.H.I.E.L.D. fashion which means we won't be able to figure it our anytime soon."

"We need to narrow it down," Tara speaks, taking her usual spot by my side. "If this is HYDRA we're talking about, who's DNA would they want? And what importance could it possibly have the thing I hate the most is that I get the feeling that this was only a decoy to distract us."

A loud, deafening, and ear-splitting bang erupts in the room but as soon as I hear the metallic clank of a revolver I know a guns been fired. My ears ring but instead of ducking I aim my gun and fire, almost blindly as smoke fills the room. Gunfire lights up the room and I hear Tara's high-pitched girly shriek as the room comes alive with the bright orange flashes of gun muzzles.

Grunts and groans are a distance background noise because all I can really feel and hear for sure is the pistols in my hands spitting out bullets at my discretion, obeying my demands. Even though I can see a thing in the white smoke, I know I've shot down a few HYDRA agents, I didn't shoot high enough to kill them but enough to keep them grounded.

Arms wrap around me and I flinch slightly when I feel the cold metal of a gun muzzle press firmly against my temple. Gritting my teeth I try not to struggle, I need to take this agent by surprise.

"One wrong move and you die..." his gravelly voice murmurs, the agents lips only inches away from my ear. So close that I can literally feel his hot breath on my ear and—as if this needs to be stated—it was unpleasant and uncomfortable to say the least.

In the blink of an eye I thrust my arms forward, slamming into his arm with the gun. He looses his grip and the revolver goes skidding across the tile floor and I yank my elbow back, knocking him away from me. He lunges and I side step and take his arm, the right one he use to hold the gun to my head and do something that makes my skin crawl.

I keep my left hand tightly wound around his wrist and with the right, press it into his forearm and using my strength, propel his arm in the opposite direction and the agent cries out, clearly in agonizing pain. That's when it happens, a sickening crunch breaks the once dull silence of the fight. I broke his arm, I can feel the blood oozing around my fingers, I feel numb, nauseous, and indifferent while the dull aching of guilt and remorse remains on the back burner.

"Shay," I hear someone say, the fog has cleared and everyone, my crew, can see what I've done. I release his arm and his cries of pain seem not to exist in my current state, all I want to do is run, hide.

I turn and pick up my guns that I'd dropped during my scuffle with the HYDRA agent and keep my eyes away from even a chance of interlocking with any of my group, I don't think I can take their abhorrent glances. Walking down the hallway I turn the corner and continue through a doorway. I find myself standing inside what appears to be a lab room but the DNA storage area.

Five pairs of footsteps let me know my crew followed me. Hundreds of racks line the whole left wall, each of the racks filled with at least twenty petri dishes. Each of all the containers carrying the same type of set up. A pink chunk and red blood.

"Shay..." Nathan says and I feel him, along with the rest of my group approaching me.

The sound of a gun cocking freezes us all in place and then we hear the familiar sound of the man's voice. "Shaylene, you and your friends are coming with us..."


	8. UNITED

_Chapter Eight: U.N.I.T.E.D._

**_I know, that was a long wait, especially after such a cliffhanger but you're all in luck as I'm back. Good news for you readers is that this series is pretty far written, chapter 35 will be a mini hiatus for me to write more for what happens after that. I wrote in long in advance before ever posting it so never fear Raven6224 is here to post. As always, follow, favorite, and leave me comments below. If you have any questions, the comment section below has a purpose!_**

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One man stands in the middle, one I know, the man to his left is built beefy, barrel-chested and a highly trained agent with short dark skin and a bald head dressed in a gray T-Shirt with a leather jacket pulled over and a black bullet proof vests pulled over the top of his shirt. The team stands in formation, four people total. The four of them hold us at gunpoint.

Phil Coulson stand in front of a group of three agents dressed in a suit with a red tie, on his right is a woman I recognize as Melinda May who stands with her gun raised and behind the two, backing up Agent Coulson stands another girl with long dark hair. The agents stand on each side—left and right—side of the doorway all guns aimed accordingly, although they don't appear to have evil intention I don't plan of giving them the benefit of the doubt, they were S.H.I.E.L.D. agents, they can't be trusted.

I start calculating a plan, my gaze flicks from one side of the room to another, then I look up at the ceiling. _If I can create a distraction using that light fixture then I probably could..._

"Don't!" Phil Coulson shouts, his gun aimed at the floor but eyes fixed on me and only me. "You're planning, Agent Hill and I remember this about you, your eyes are your tell."

_Hill_. "Maria Hill, that's whose orders you're under to find and capture us? Or is her mission to eliminate us huh? Who is she working for, does his name start with N and last name F?" I shout at him, narrowing my eyes.

Unlike the rest of his unit the Phil remains neutral and doesn't clench harder at his gun in defense. He is utterly calm and so is Melinda May but that only makes sense, they're highly trained agent who are good at what they do. Not sorry to burst his bubble but I'm better, my eyes jump to Tarben who subtly nods in understanding.

Behind my back I hold three fingers up as a count down clock for only my crews eyes to see and understand. _Three... Two... One..._

Lightning sparks from the light overhead causing the lights to flicker continuously in no pattern, just random fits of electrical surges. Then I see from the corner of my eye, Tarben close his fingers into a fist and the bolt of lightning once contained rips from the light fixtures with a loud _smik! _The glass covering the light bulb shatters into a million pieces before splaying across the tile floors.

Now the bright bolt of pure, powerful electricity blasts a line across the room sending Coulson's agents sailingback through the air and skidding across the tile floors and those who were knocked back jumped away. We all get the same idea when we look around our side of the room and find a door with a set of stairs. Tara darts towards it first and I follow behind them, to make sure they stay safe.

"Don't let them get away! Move, move, move!" the Coulson shouts, trying to find a way around Tarben's barrage of lightning strike. The hallway we enter is dark but faintly I can make out Tara in the front of the group as she's nearing the top of the staircase and I'm at the bottom, guns still aimed and ready to fire. Once we clear the first set of stairs we land on a second floor with five doors all around us.

When faint footsteps sound we know the agents must have found their way around Tarben's lightning so he releases his clenched and electricity sparks around his now free fingers. Another closed door painted a dull tan sits on the far wall on the South side of the room. Tara lunges for the doorknob and tugs at it a few times on to hear the jangling of a deadbolt lock.

Tarben steps over, takes the doorknob, and yanks back hard and the locked door practically fly's open. The loud _clank!_ signals the deadbolt has met its untimely demise by Tarben's god-like strength but when you have Thor, the God of Thunder as a predecessor it makes only sense that he'd have that same sort of strength. On the other side of the door is another set of stairs but unlike the ones before these stairs are old and much less trustworthy.

Shutting the door I look around for a way to secure it so when the agents do arrive they won't gain access to this section of the house. Heavy metal chains bolted to the stairwells stone walls are the perfect securing factor. I take the chains and wrap them around the doorknob, using a random combination lock found on the ground to secure it.

"Shay!" I hear Ciara whisper to me from somewhere up above.

Racing up the stairs I waste no time and evaluate the situation only to find Tara leaned back against a wall, bent over with her hands on her knees, and panting heavily .

"The only place up here in the rooftop," Bryan motions to a door less frame, revealing the top of the building which practically overlooks the city.

"W-what," Tara coughs and wheezes, still trying to catch her breath. "What now? Plus I-I though Coulson died."

Subconsciously I bite my lip and try to calculate a plan. "Is there a way to scale down the building without catching the attention of anyone in the main section of the building? And S.H.I.E.L.D. had a thousand secrets up their sleeve does this really surprise you?" I ask, looking around at my friends.

"There's a fire escape but—" Bryan starts.

Cutting him off I say, "Good! Use it."

"There is not going to be enough time for all of us to escape before Maria Hill's agents get up here and discover our escape route," he counters my plan, which of course I'm grateful for.

I bite down on the fingernail on the thumb of my right hand. There's only one option if that's the case, that means they'l need to be a delay of some sort that keeps the agents away long enough for us to get away, unless...

"The five of you go down the fire escape, I'll keep those agents busy long enough for you guys to get out and then I'll meet up with you at the third safe house on the outskirts of the city."

"What!" Tara cries, straightening to her full height. "Shay, you can't do that, I-I forbid it!"

"No way, we stick together, remember that saying, _'united we stand divided we fall'_?" Nathan chimes in, green eyes fixed on me as if I'm the younger one and not capable of making coherent decision on my own. I know he's just worried about my safety but I'll be alright.

Sorrow and guilt fill me but I press on as if it hasn't effected me. "Don't worry, I _**will**_ be there, understood?"

They all nod in unison.

"Then I'll see you soon. Nathan, you're in charge until we meet up again so keep an eye on everybody and I trust you to do you're best and Tara," I look over at her. "Obey Nathan to the best of your abilities."

"Yes b-but..." Tara starts.

"Go, now," I say, turning away and heading back the way I came and as I go Nathan's voice sounds, giving them the orders I just did.

"You heard Shay's order, lets go."

I plunge back into the darkness of the hallway and dart down the stairs and pause a moment, pressing my ear against the door I have chained shut, listening for any signs of Coulson's agents in the area. When I hear nothing but the slight creaking above from what I assume to be the fire escape and reach for the combination lock and jerk down, snapping the lock.

Trying to be as quiet as possible I start to unravel the chains and when I do, I carefully place them on the ground without making a sound then reach for the door handle. Taking a deep breath I close my eyes and collect my thoughts and when I open my eyes again, I'm focused. My foot collides with the door, it flies open, and I barrel out into the room, guns tucked away in the waistband of my jeans.

I come face to face with Melinda May and the male agent who stood to Coulson's left in the lab. We're a good six feet apart but I can tell by May's posture that she doesn't doubt my capabilities unlike the man at her side who seems to have concluded me to be a girl with no skills of defending capabilities. Obviously he's not high enough clearance to know about me and my group.

"You know, we don't have to fight Shaylene, if you come with us we'll take you back," Melinda starts, trying to coax me into believing everything will be alright but she knows, I can see from her eyes, that she knows I won't fall for it. That's just her protocol, she's required to give me the option to give up before a full out brawl will happen but I'm not falling for it.

"Ha!" I respond, no humor in my tone.

"If you do what she tells you I won't have to hurt you," the man at her side tells me.

"Don't underestimate her Mack, she's much more dangerous than how she appears, she'll use your lack of belief in her capabilities against you, she's a master strategist after all," Melinda tells him, never looking away from me even throughout her speech.

Using my peripheral vision to my advantage I notice a stray pipe resting on the ground near my feet and a plan concocts itself in my head and I start calculating the distance, speed, and angle needed to...

My foot swings forward and hits the pipe with a _clank!_ sending the pipe hurling through the air, and slamming straight into Melinda May's hand, knocking the gun from her hands and sending it skidding across the floor and under a lone burgundy couch.

"Argh!" Melinda grunts, before she darts forward, her pace quick, determined, only focused on this mission at hand and the order she received from Coulson. I duck as she swings a leg at my head, but she catches on and throws out a fist, slamming me right in the stomach. Gritting my teeth I grab her wrist and spin her off her feet. Melinda wraps her legs around my waist to keep herself secure and allow her better access to get me in a weakening position then her starts hammering her fists into my torso.

Using my free arm I push it between both her stomach and mine and using my strength, pull my elbow down, hitting her right in the rib and I hear her groan of pain. Tired of this piggy front ride I slam my head forward, hitting her with my forehead then twist my arms in the opposite direction and shove her off me. She goes flying, back slamming into the wall leaving a massive hole there.

I know she's not unconscious but I need to take out Mack so at least I'll only have to worry about her. I dart forward and he braces, fists raised but instead of throwing a punch I swerve and curl my fingers around an icy cold pipe and swing it at full force. A loud metal _ping!_ rings through the complex as the pipe bounces off his head vibrating as if it hit concrete.

Melinda jumps out me and I spin, a knife in hand and I spin out of the way and kick her in the back sending her to the ground, hard. She falls to the ground in pain but the knife is sent flying straight at me. I turn and the knife plunges itself into my left shoulder and I grit my teeth in pain before reaching around and pulling the knife from my shoulder, letting it drop to the ground, not even acknowledging it or the blood I feel trickling down my shoulder and over my back with it's warm oozy sort of feel that I actually hate.

Without looking back I put the gun away and head toward the second staircase, trying to push the image of blood oozing, of my own blood, in the back of my mind. Back on the lab floor no one is there to 'welcome me' so I move forward, keeping on high alert and only focused on what's in front of me. There's two more agents, that girl with long brown hair and Coulson, I don't want to face Coulson.

The image of me hurting him... I don't know if I'll be able to do it, he's such a nice person who has always been kind to me and I-I can't just forget that but I won't allow myself to be captured. When I reach the hallway leading to the back door, the girl steps out from around a corner and aims some type of specially designed gun, probably a freezing gun.

"Aren't you a little young to be a fugitive?" the woman asks, her brown eyes staring at me a moment as if evaluating my psyche or something.

I give no expression, emotion, or reaction. "Aren't you a little too adolescent to be working for an organization that was already disbanded after the whole Project Insight fiasco."

"You know about that, are you working with HYDRA?" she asks, narrowing her eyes at me.

"No, I have no interest in, how would you say, secret organizations, I've had my fill of that sort of lifestyle and I have no intention of going back so either get out of my way, or I will take you down."

"Bring it, I dare ya," she grins, obviously doubting me. I leap forward and twist her wrist popping the bone in her wrist, dislocating it. Holding her there I reach into her purse and pull out a high tech sort of wire probably designed by S.H.I.E.L.D. before the organization was supposedly disbanded. I wrap the end on the wire around the palm on my left hand and use it to hold her head and keep her from resisting.

I pull out my pistol and aim it at her temple and lead her out the door and into the parking long where Phil Coulson stands, clearly shaken by the current situation of his agent, I can practically feel the fear radiating off him.

"Skye, are you alright?" he asks her. _Thanks so much for caring about me Coulson,_ I think.

Behind Coulson is a large black van with no windows in the back and is so clean that reflections literally illuminate off the van's sides. He steps closer and I pull the wire tighter and he stops, surrendering his hands.

"I-I'm fine," the woman I know identify as Skye replies.

"Don't do anything you'll regret Shaylene, let her go and we'll talk just like old times," he says.

"I don't do things I regret _Agent_ Coulson and we both know that and talk, like old times? Ha, you don't care about me, or my group just like your precious Director Fury."

"Well, actually I'm the director now..." he shrugs his shoulders. "That's not really the point though."

"I know Nick Fury sent you to fine me, us, why? To lock us back up in our small cells like prisoners even when we've done nothing wrong and have no allegations or charges against us but because we're..."

"You won't hurt her, I know you, you're just like..."

"No!" I shout at him. "I'm not."

"Release her Shaylene, don't make me use your team against you, they're locked in the back of the van," he points to the black vehicle behind him.

"Prove it," is my response.

Coulson opens the back of his van to reveal my crew, all five of them cluster together on two small metal benches bracketed on each side of the van, they're all alive."

"Will you open fire when I do?"

"No," he shakes his head. "But you'll get in the van without a fight, that much I know."

Grunting my annoyance, I release the wire around her neck and shove Skye tumbling forward and she topples to the ground by Coulson who runs to her side and helps her to her feet as I brush past them and, without using the miniature steps, hop into the back of the van, and clearly notice when the heavy doors close and lock behind me with a loud, heavy _clunk!  
_

Although the room is dark and I can't see anything I can feel their regret for failing, I don't care, as long as they're safe we can deal with whatever will come next, we have to stick together, just like before, and still like now.


	9. The Belly of the Beast

_Chapter Nine: The Belly of the Beast_

_**Yeah, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. is now totally involved in this insane series. I started watching it and I looove it so much, it gave me so many feelings for it, millions of many plot twists and it really is fantastic so if anyone's trying to decide whether or not to watch it, do. Anyways as always follow and favorite this story and I want to know what you think will happen after this, so read the whole chapter and tell me your theories!**_

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My throat burns with each and every breath of icy air I intake while trapped in the back of the below freezing temperature of the van. We all sit clustered together on a small, frigid metal bench, unable to even move a bit in fear of hitting one another. As if that's not bad enough, it's practically pitch black in here and I can barely make out my hand when I hold it in front of my face.

The only light is a small, every wavering stream, of sunlight peeking through an oval shaped hole carved in the door designed only large enough to look through or in, not enough to allow escape. While we may not be able to see where we are or what's going on outside the walls that confine us we can for sure feel the result of being incapable of seeing what's going on.

Every time the van swerves, sharply turns, or dips in pot holes my crew and I get battered and thrown around like rag dolls, completely unable to do anything about it. Pain rattles up my spine as my back collides with the metal wall of the van. While I may not be handcuffed like a prisoner, they are and I've notice that the cuffs are specially designed for their specific abilities.

Take Tarben's cuffs for example, his are designed to withstand both his heightened strength and his lighting but the cuffs are a reactor which will send any electricity shooting from the cuffs through him and anyone close by in a place like this. Tara and the rest of the groups are pretty normal with a few tweaks here and there to compensate for certain specifics of our personal abilities.

Bryan isn't cuffed like the others but instead his sits back in the far right corner behind a plastic wall to keep him secure in case he, how would Bruce Banner say?Hulks-out. In all honesty we've never seen Bryan Hulk out, not that I'm not grateful for that but then again I try to keep a peaceful and stress free environment and being away from S.H.I.E.L.D. could have helped also.

"Wait," Tara speaks and we all glance over at her as she's the first person to say anything since we been captured. "Do you guys see this? Our handcuffs have the Stark Industries logo, these were designed by... Does that mean they know?"

I shake my head. "No, I doubt Director—thorn-in-my-side—Nick Fury would inform the 'marvelous and highly magnificent Avengers' about his secret escapades in the field of manipulating with life and death, cloning, and creating freaky DNA copies of them. Tarben's cuffs were probably originally designed for Thor but seeing as he has similar powers, it makes sense for Fury to use them."

"Where do you think they're taking us, who the hell are they anyways, obviously we all know Phil Coulson but what about the rest of them? S.H.I.E.L.D. was disbanded after the HYDRA on the inside so what are they doing around and didn't Phil die when Loki invaded Earth?" Ciara asks, voice soft but bringing up valid question.

"Hey, why weren't you handcuffed?" Tarben asks, finally noticing my cuff free wrists, before he starts tugging harder against the cuffs that leave him detained and practically immobile. By his gritted teeth it's obvious that he dislikes being a prisoner, this is nothing, if he ever knew where and how I was held he'd wouldn't be so annoyed, he'd be glad to only be handcuffed.

"I don't know Ciara and Nick Fury's a man of many secrets, I mean look around, we're clones of the Avengers so bringing someone back from the dead, pretty low on the totem pole wouldn't you say? As for your question Tarben, I think it's because he knew I'd voluntarily get in and not fight them with the five of you being held here, and he assumed right because I won't risk your lives for simpleminded rebelliousness."

The vehicle jerks again and we all groan when, once again, smacking against the metal walls sending a deep metallic _thump!_ ringing through the once quiet backseat of the van. Instead of moving forward we hear the engine of the van go off and Coulson opens the door revealing him and a group of agents armed who together have at least thirty automatic weapons all aimed on us.

Coulson looks around at the guards dressed in black and give a comedic smile before looking back at me. "This sort of security isn't really my style but you know that already. Someone special wants to have a word with you so follow me, the agents here will take your friends to their rooms."

"You mean cells?" I counter, eye narrowing at him.

"No, rooms that are highly secured with guards stationed outside the door which lock from the outside. It's all for your protection."

"More like our imprisonment."

"U.N.I.T.E.D. doesn't like that term, they prefer detainment," is his response as Coulson holds out a hand for me to take as if I need help to get out of the back of a van, I snort in annoyance.

Even though I haven't stepped out from the back of the van I notice that we're no longer near New York City, we appear to be on some sort of mountain covered in fluffy white snow and the air outside is much colder than the air inside the back of the vehicle. Now I wish we hadn't stopped and that Coulson had left the door closed to keep this cold air out.

Just as I'm about to climb from the vehicle the van quakes like it's been hit by on oncoming vehicle and then is thrown back away from Coulson and I'm tossed back into the right wall beside the open door. My head rings out all sorts of explanations for what's happening but there are no definitive answers so instead I wrap my hands up in the thick fabric strap attached to the van and hold on for dear life.

The van creaks as it tilts off to the right then all the feeling and our grip on gravity go out the window when the van tilts all the way off. Wind whistles around and throughout the van and that's when I realize it. We're falling off what can only be assumed as a mountain and there is no way Coulson and his team can save us. My heart pounds in my throat and I look back at my crew.

Fear decorates their faces and I place a calm demeanor across my own to try and put them at more ease, I'm their leader and I have to stay calm if not for their sake then for my own. Then screams fill the air, their screams, my teams fear as clear as day drawn on their faces and then everything seems to slow down, like in those war movies and all the sound fades away, I can still see their mouths moving but I hear nothing.

_What is U.N.I.T.E.D?_ That's all I can think as the impact strikes and I'm thrown from the back of the car. Everything's a blur and when I hit the ground the worlds goes dark but faintly I hear a sound. Something that isn't very human, a deep, monstrous roar of some sort but the darkness is such a relief, a brief escape and I'm falling, falling under the waves and then there's nothing.

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**Third Person POV:**

When the dust cleared from the mountain top, that's the moment when Phil Coulson realized what had happened, the van, and the six teenagers were blasted off the mountain by some unseen force. _How am I going to tell Director Fury? _That's the only concern he has, aside from the obvious being the six teenagers who could have possibly died from the fall.

Skye stands at the cliffs edge looking down at the fallen over truck which now looks like scrap metal tossed all along the mountain side. Based on the evidence below she can only conclude that perhaps they are still alive. She glances over at Coulson who still stands immobile, his hand tapping against his leg as if he's thinking about what to tell to Nick Fury.

Reaching into the pocket of his slacks he pulls out his secure line cell phone and dials Nick Fury's secure but private line and listens to it ring, once, twice, three time, and then on the fourth he answers.

"Hello Coulson, did you catch the subjects?" he asks, his voice deep and emotionless.

"Sort of sir," Coulson says, hesitant by thinking of the best way to deliver the news. He knew that Nick Fury would be mad, that's an obvious fact but the real issue is how mad and what he'll want them to do about the subjects disappearance.

"What's that supposed to mean? Do you have them or not?"

"Well, we _had_ them," Coulson replies.

"Enough, explain Coulson, I don't have time for a guessing game."

"The six subjects were captured, well, Shaylene voluntarily got into the van because we captured her team and so we were transporting them to the newest base implemented on Mount Lacuna but just as I opened the door to bring Shaylene to you something happened. My team and I were knocked off our feet and went flying across the mountain floor and the van, well—"

"Yes?"

"The van was blasted off the cliffs edge by someone, I couldn't seem them. It was like the person who shot that beam of energy was invisible or something and I don't know whether or not the subjects are still alive, sir..." Coulson says, trailing off.

"They're alive, that's for sure," Skye chimes in, stepping over to Coulson side, cell phone in hand with a picture of the wreckage of the van pulled up on the small iPhone's screen.

"Just because that van fell from this mountain, it wouldn't cause damage like this, someone, or something else must have destroyed it because based on my math, this shouldn't have happened.'

"What's going on?" Fury speaks from the line.

"Apparently based on the remains of the vehicle," Coulson starts, still somewhat distracted by the photo on Skye's cell phone. "Skye believes that they aren't dead, that something else happened."

"Something like what?" Fury replies.

"Maybe, wait, I got it," Coulson says, his mind finally jumping to a logical conclusion of what could have possible occurred and mix that with the last sound that he heard. "Bryan."

"Bryan might have—" Fury trails off, this is bad, very, very bad. Having one Hulk is bad enough but now there's two of them and it hasn't been discovered how Bryan acts when in his Hulk-state of mind. This could be very bad and could catch the attention of the Avengers.

"Find them as soon as you can, we don't want news of their existence getting out, keep me posted on what you find and when you locate the subjects lock them away in the Freezer, they need to be gotten rid of and as for Shaylene, well she should have never been woken up."

"W-what exactly are you going to do with them sir?" he responds, stunned at Fury's comment.

"I'm going to put them back under and terminate them once and for all, goodbye Agent Coulson," the dial clicks and that's when Coulson knows the call has ended.

On the other side of the line Nick Fury sets the phone back into his pocket, completely surrounded by the darkness of the basement in Avengers Tower which he went down into after receiving his call from Coulson. It's best to keep these insignificant, deficient creations of scientific experimentation away from the Avengers knowledge, seeing as these projects will be neutralized soon enough.

He leans forward, resting his hands on the long gray desk in front of him, letting out a deep, long awaited sigh.

Unbeknownst to Nick Fury, he is not all alone in this basement below the tower, someone else stands farther back in the darkness, behind Nick Fury who had heard everything that has been said aloud.

"What other things have you shoved under the rug?" the man speaks.

Nick Fury whips around and stares at the man, eye widening a bit when his gaze lands on him. Who else could it be that would have the abilities to notice him fleeing the main floor when his phone rang and was able to be both stealthy, quiet, and capable of hearing him?

"Who is Shaylene, Sir?"

None other than Steve Rogers, the man out of time.

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_**Bam! There you go, so Nick Fury what's to get rid of the crew, what do you think the Freezer is? What about Shay, what do you think of her? I hope this chapter was great so be sure to comment below and let me know what you think and if there's anything you like to see in the future leave that down below as I always read the comments!**_


	10. Skeletons in the Forgotten Closet

_Chapter Ten: Skeletons in the Forgotten Closet_

**_That's right, I'm back once again to post another chapter of this fabulous story, especially since I know you all must be dying of withdraw after what occurred at the end of last chapter. So, as if I need to say this at all, be sure to follow and favorite this story and leave comments, I love to hear what you like and what you don't and just general opinions of this._**

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Blood roared behind my ears, pulsating every few moments completely in tune with the throbbing, pain induced spasms in my head and the aching behind my eye balls but even with all these side effects from the afternoon before, I still force my eyes open. Nausea sweeps over me as I watch my vision goes from just white nothingness into the world obscured in a cloudy blur as my gaze bounces in and out of focus.

Tangy, bitter iron flavored blood swirls around my mouth, but twitching my mouth slightly indicates it's dry blood trailing down the corner of my mouth. Narrowing my eyes to attempt to better survey my surroundings ends up more difficult due to the lack of help from my still wigged out eyes. Slowly but surely the world comes into focus and I can start making out shapes, objects, and then Bryan's face.

He's huddled up in the corner of what appears to be some old, rundown ski-resort with extreme fire damage based on the oil black makings scrawled along the tangerine colored walls. That's when I notice that Bryan is completely and totally stark naked with his knees tightly pulled up to his chest to hide his bits and pieces. A strange look decorates his face, almost animalistic, like he saw a monster.

Bryan's dark brown hair is disheveled and his deep brown eyes seem cloudy and far off as if he isn't living in this time but living some sort of alternate reality that is haunting him. Reaching for the black backpack beside me I dig through it, moving me and Nathan's pistols aside, Tara's rolled up whips, then I see what I'm looking for. A set of spare clothes kept for emergencies.

"Bryan..." my whisper rings across the room, I try not to be too loud as all the rest of the crew lay around me, completely passed out after the fall from the cliff side. Tara's hair is awfully disheveled, skin pale like a ghost, and dark purple blotches splatter her face as well as the others, a consequence of falling from such a height.

Raising my voice I repeat what I said. "Bryan... Hello? Can you hear me?"

This time I catch his attention, his eyes skirt to me, the storm of apprehension and terror rages on in full force like a hurricane is tearing him apart at the very seams and no one is able to stop the fly away pieces. I slide the spare clothes across the floor and to where he sits before turning around allowing him to get dressed in semi-privacy.

_How can Phil Coulson be alive? _That's all I can think while my back is to Bryan. Obviously Nick Fury's behind that reason but the real conflict is what was done to bring him back. If we can get that information that would be the perfect blackmail to get him and S.H.I.E.L.D. off our tails. While the thought of doing something awful like blackmailing makes my skin crawl I know it's better than letting Nick Fury continue his pursuit of us.

"Y-you can turn back around now..." Bryan says, voice so low I barely heard him at all.

Turning around I see that Bryan sits in the same position on the floor as if he never got up to dress himself. Digging his chin into his knees, I can see how lost and alone he feels without even hearing it from him.

"Do you want to talk about it Bryan? Tell me what happened."

He shakes his head. "No, I'm fine. Right now we need to focus on what to do about Nick Fury."

"Yeah I've been thinking about that and the only thing I can think of to do is—"

"Ugh! What the hell, was I hit by a train or something?" Tara sounds, her voice rough, thick, and raucous. Her eyes are squinted as she slowly but surly pushes herself up off the ground from a laying position into one where she's sitting upright. She glance from Bryan in the corner to me sitting on the left side of the room with my legs crossed.

"That probably would have felt better..." I comment, lifting my eyes to her's while still in deep thought as to how to get Nick Fury to leave us alone. Where cold I find evidence to use against him? Seeing as Coulson and his team brought us to this mountain, there must be a secret base here so if I can get into the base with Tara's help and hacking skills we might be able to obtain the dirt we need to bury Fury once and for all.

It shouldn't be too difficult to recruit Tara for this little hacktivist mission, anytime she's allowed to break into secure networks and systems without having to worry about me lecturing her for it is a golden day for her. "Hey Tara, how would you feel about breaking into a former S.H.I.E.L.D. base and stealing a load of completely CLASSIFIED and unreleased documents from the database?"

A smirk crosses her plump, pink lips as she narrows her eyes in a mischievous glimmer in them. "Shaylene, are you giving me your total permission to break into secure files and steal? This is a day to celebrate, looks like fuddy-duddy has finally manages to drag her ass out of the dry mud and live a little on the edge of danger!"

I shoot her a dirty look. "Just this once so don't get a big head or anything, I know how you like to runaway with your ego."

"Hey!" Tara whines, falling on her back and whining like a little child with her eyes pulled tightly closed. "I'm the funny one with all the quips, barbs, sarcastic comments, one-liners, and nicknames. Stop stealing my thunder Shaylene, I don't try and steal your role as Malibu Barbie."

"Stop calling me Shaylene and I will be more than happy to give you your purpose for life back, and I am_ not_ Barbie!" I reply, raising an eyebrow when she bolts back up into a sitting position, crosses her legs, and presses her hands on her knees making her resemble a hunching over statue.

"Fine," she huffs, sticking her tongue out at me. "You win this round Shay but I can think of new barbs and nicknames on the spot Blondie."

"Cleaver..." I sarcastically reply making my tone somewhat nasal and preppy but dragging the the E, A, and R syllable on in a mocking manner and Tara simple rolls her eyes, obviously to lazy to make a quip back. Pain rips through my spine as I push up off the toffee colored carpet barely stained with any signs of a fire but I grit my teeth until the pain eases when I'm all the way standing.

"You mean now? We have to go now?" Tara asks, the reluctance and apathetic tone overshadowing her tone tells me she doesn't want to get up but we have to go find the base and get the information as soon as possible. The longer we stay here without the information we need puts us at a higher risk of Fury's men locating and re-capturing us.

"Tara, we need to do this before Phil Coulson and his team come searching for us, we need to get this dirt on them or else Nick Fury will never leave us alone and I know Fury won't let us live if he catches us so we need to get to work ASAP," I explain, my blue eyes fixed on her brown ones. A groan of annoyance escapes her as she rises to her feet and trots over to me.

"Bryan, watch over the rest of the crew until I get back, understood?" I ask.

Without saying a single word, Bryan only nods his head to confirm what I told him before slowly scooting over to where the other three still lay motionless on the ground, back's to the floor and stomach's facing up. Looking away I turn and head towards the open door of the ski-lodge, Tara hot on my heels as we step out into the chilly mountain breeze.

Crunching of snow is our first evidence of proof that we're in fact on a snowy mountain side but as my eyes adjust to the bright, reflective color of the white snow that's when I see the full extent of what snow can really do. All signs of actual earth is gone, replaced by the glittering remnants of what must have been a extensive amount of snowfall.

So that's when we begin our trek up the mountain side, my arms, legs, and face are numb by the time we reach the spot where Coulson and his team were when we'd been knocked off the mountain side but now they're nowhere to be seen. The snow here seems to be keep melted away and a large gaping mouth of a cave resides in front of us but it only goes less than an inch in but it must be the opening to the S.H.I.E.L.D. base.

Glancing around I assess the area in search of the access panel or a button, possibly a keypad code entering device to open the doors to the base but Tara seems to have beat me too it as she turns to me and points at a pass code device.

"I know I'm not rocky mountain expert but I'm pretty sure keypads are not apart of the mountain climbing experience."

Crossing the terrain, I reach her side, looking down at the ancient looking devices but am not fulled by the old style makeover. It's probably designed like that to keep nosy people away, leading them to believe that since there's old tech on the outside of this place that nothing inside could be of any worth or great value but those people are gravely mistaken.

"What do you think the pass code is?" Tara asks, turning her head toward me, a joking smile on her face.

"N-Dec-51-Last-Resort. That's probably the code," I say, shrugging my shoulders to display the lack of effort driven into deciphering the possible code for the pass code. A green light flashes over the top of the caves opening, rumble sounds beneath our feet as the rusty colored rocks mouth splits open into two pieces which slowly pull apart, revealing a doorway.

A shiny metal hallway is evident as we look into the mouth of the cave, I enter first, guns raised in defense as Tara follows behind me, utterly helpless without her whips which she'd left back at the ski-lodge. Inside the base we're greeted by silence, a peaceful sort of silence that is disturbed by the presence of people which means that no one has been inside this base in awhile which is good.

Phil Coulson was planning to bring us in here I'm sure but if we escaped he'd never think that we'd be the ones breaking into a S.H.I.E.L.D. base when we fought so hard to stay away from it. Most of the files have been leaked to the internet after the helicarrier incident but there are probably a few that Nick Fury kept under wraps and Tara is a master hacker and should be able to access secure and corrupt files.

As we move forward we enter a large, open room with checkerboard floors but in red and black instead of the traditional black and white. A medium sized computer screen sits on a lonely white desk with dust collecting on the mouse. Moving forward Tara sits down in the spinning computer chair and I sit down in a plain ground bound chair beside her, guns still held high.

Tapping of computer keys are the only sound now, but I still keep focused and my eye on the prize. As the minutes tick by I feel the nerves bundling in my chest which each passing moment and it's like a bomb is building up in my chest and sooner or later it's gonna explode but the longer it's contained the more powerful it's growing.

"See what you can find out on Coulson's team, we need to know who we're up against," I tell her.

After a couple of taps later Tara speaks. "Got it, Melinda May, also known as "The Cavalry" is a pilot and a formidable enemy, skilled in hand-to-hand-combat, firearms, and other types of dangerous attack strategies."

"What abut Coulson's prize agent?" I reply, looking over at Tara whose brows are creased in focus on the task at hand.

"Well, she seems to have deleted the files on her but she didn't do a very good job, it's an easy hack to retrieve the deleted files but for an amateur it's not that awful. Here we go..."

**Full Name:** Mary Sue Poots

**Nickname:** Skye

**Affiliations:** The Rising Tide, S.H.I.E.L.D., U.N.I.T.E.D.

**Date of Birth:** April, 1989

**Clearance****:** Level 1

"Must have been new to S.H.I.E.L.D. when HYDRA was revealed to be involved in their organization, now what dirt can we find on Nick Fury to get him to sway in out favor?"

"Let's see what you've been hiding Nick Fury..." I hear Tara mutter under her breath as she clicks a few times on her mouse but the her section beside me goes silent. "What's Project" T.A.H.I.T.I.?"

"Have you gotten access to the secure file?"

"No," Tara replies, the tapping of keys vigorously squawking away as she tries to bypass whatever's blocking the files. "Oh my God. Project T.A.H.I.T.I. stands for Terrestrialized Alien Host Integrative and they don't have the last two letters acronyms listed. It's a level 9 security protocol detail using certain serums received from some dead alien creatures and used the DNA to create a serum."

Turning around I glance at the screen. "Yeah, designed to be able to revive a fatally injured of deceased Avenger. Whoa, look at the test subjects who were used as lab rats for this test. Phil Coulson, lacerated heart, it was torn is half, that would have killed him unless they used this project and their miracle drug GH-325 to revive him; the Avengers are probably still in the dark about this, I don't think they'll be to happy to know their favorite agent is alive and they were left in the dark."

Tara glances over me as if asking if that's all the information we need but the one more thing crosses my mind. "Coulson said something, about U.N.I.T.E.D. and to me it sounds like a group name, lets see what we can find on this project."

I watch the screen as Tara's fingers collide with the keys until documents start popping up all over the screen, each of them having the encrypted title: U.N.I.T.E.D. but then a new document pops up, one with the meaning of those five letters. "There!" I say and Tara stops messing with the keys as her eyes scan over the document.

"**U**ndisclosed **N**ational **I**ntelligence and **T**actical **E**xamination **D**ivision," I read the words allowed, my brain still trying to grasp the information laid out before me as I scan over the words. After New York Nick Fury used Project T.A.H.I.T.I. to bring back Coulson but never told the Avengers but then it was discovered that S.H.I.E.L.D. was infested with HYDRA agents so it was disbanded but Fury must have allowed Coulson and his team to work in secret.

However, Fury must have decided to make a much larger organization to protect the world so he sucked Coulson and the remaining parts of S.H.I.E.L.D. into a smaller division inside his new Intel organization which he named U.N.I.T.E.D. That's perfect, exactly the sort of juicy type of secrets we'll need to bring Fury down once and for all, nodding I give her the signal to collect the data from the computer.

Pulling out a secure flashdrive Tara enters the small device into the computer and move the files into it along with many other highly classified as well as all the information on Coulson and his team. Tara digs into **Project: Last Resort** and professionally deletes every, and all traces of our information. She did transfers those files of information to our collection but when she's finished, I whisper our time to leave, loud enough for only Tara to hear.

"Time to face the muse Nick Fury. We're not going down without a fight so you better be ready, we're coming for you this time..."


	11. Phantom At the Opera

_Chapter Eleven: Phantom At the Opera_

**_Welcome back to this amazing series filled with a whole bunch of craziness with Shaylene and the rest of the crew as they're getting ready for revenge. This chapter took awhile to write because it has to be great, it's about to lead to dramatic confrontations. As always follow, favorite, and leave comments._**

* * *

"That's the plan?" Tara asks, somewhere to my right as we're all crowded together like sardines trying to see the map pulled up on Tara's teeny-tiny computer used to store all our information we gather throughout each day we're still free. We are examining the blueprints of Avengers Tower, calculating the best way set out plan in motion without creating to much of an alarm or blowing the plan out into the open with some obvious scheme.

"Yeah..." I nod. "This should work but we'll need to be in our positions five minutes after arrival because if I'm going to do that, I'll need you four as backup, sorry Bryan but I'm not risking you hulking-out again, we'll take you along but have you in a secure control room, as far from the drama as possible."

"Understandable, glad to be away from the fighting that's sure to ensue," he replies, brown eyes still distant as he looks down at the ground.

"What did you find out about Coulson being alive?" Nathan asks, his question directed only at me and Tara seems to sense that as she drops her head, tilting it to the right, letting brown hair overtake half her face.

I tap the Enter key on the computer and bring the document copy on screen for everyone to see. "Project: T.A.H.I.T.I. was instated to, by using certain fluids from a deceased alien creature whose DNA apparently has the ability to revive, or heal a fatally injured, Avenger. This is what was used to bring Phil Coulson back to life, Nick Fury is the only one who would have been capable of something like this, especially since he was still a Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. at the time this happened."

"So what you're saying is..." Ciara starts, her face pale, brown hair tied back in a ponytail. Her skin's looks like it's tinting green, probably from how disgusting and sick this project is.

"Nick Fury used dead alien to revive Coulson to... What? Spend his time trying to capture us, what's the point in that. Fury knows we'll never voluntarily help him so why?" Tarben finishes, running a hand through his greasy blond hair now coated with a thick layer of grime and dried blood crusty in his head and staining his hair, only enough that someone trained to notice details could tell.

"Yes and he's created a new organization called U.N.I.T.E.D. which needs to learn we're not to be trifled with," I pause, looking around all my friends. "Let's show Nick Fury that he can't intimidate and control us anymore."

"Yeah, let's kick his ass," Tara shoots me a grin. Turning we all gear up, backpacks ready and all technology put away then make a beeline straight to the ski-resorts front door, time to finish this, once and for all.

* * *

**Third Person POV:**

His fists collide with the white table in front of him, he narrowly managed to escape telling Steve Rogers about the existence of Shaylene by coming up with a cleaver explanation for why he would be after a young girl. This lie he came up with was that she's an animatronic robot assassin which to anyone capable of understanding twenty-first century technology, especially like Bruce Banner or Tony Stark, would never fall for such a ploy.

Nick Fury had just been informed about the break-in at Base-0-291 which he's positive leads back to Shaylene and her team of misfits but when he went to examine all the files on the computers hard drive at the base he soon realizes that it's been wiped clean, that field's Tara's doing, she the computer genius. They must be planning something, something big but the question is what? What are they planning?

It must be something big, cleaver which is obvious. Unlike the rest of the experiments Shaylene specializes in these types of operations, once her goal is set she will go to the edge of the Earth to accomplish whatever she sets her mind too. Plus, she knows about Coulson being alive and what they did, how they did it, and any other securely hidden S.H.I.E.L.D. data that was in Level: Black Box coding.

Things with the subjects and the Avengers are getting to close to one another for comfort on Nick Fury's part, while he knows— based of past confrontations with Shaylene —that she and the rest of her team doesn't want the Avengers to know of their existence otherwise they would have revealed themselves all those years ago. They've had a decade to come out from the shadows that they have been hiding in.

Luckily, so far it seems that Steve won't be telling the rest of the Avengers about this so called animatronic robot that he bluffed about which is good because he'd have no idea what to tell them. If they saw Shaylene, Natasha Romanoff and Clint Barton would start noticing similarities between Steve and Shaylene almost instantly since they're trained to notice specific details.

To his knowledge he can only assume that Natasha would most likely be the one to inform the Captain about their similarities, Clint Barton on the other hand leaves him with the question of would he or would he not. He, unlike the rest of the Avengers, isn't too close with any of them other than Romanoff and that may influence his decision on whether or not to point out the twos similarities then there's the issue of Nathan and Ciara.

Buzzing on his secure cell phone in his pants pocket signals a phone call and instantaneously he reaches for it, answering on the second vibration. Taking a breath he speaks with his usual, deep, intimidating voice. The one he uses for all his official 'Nick Fury' type phone calls, this is the voice he uses with the Avengers when they're on missions or his Agents of U.N.I.T.E.D. as well as S.H.I.E.L.D.

"Yes Agent, what do you and your team have to report?" Nick says, expressing no interest in his tone to keep spies and other hackers from understanding the true seriousness of Coulson's call, if the spy thinks the head of the agency doesn't have any concern for what is being reported then they are less likely to take interest is said situation, not that Nick Fury believes they are spies that are capable of hacking into his secure phone line.

Besides, 90% of those who can, are on his side, the only person who isn't that he can think of straight off the bat is Tara but she's too preoccupied with whatever task Shaylene has her working on.

"Melinda and I swung back around to the base, the doors have been opened and all the computers have been wiped clean, Skye and Mack reported that they found a rundown ski-lodge near where the truck was found in pieces, shards of metal strew all out across the land, they are in fact alive but based on what Skye is telling me, they have been gone for around six or seven hours."

The lights in the basement flicker slightly, not paying it any mind he instead chalks it up to the party upstairs, all the Avengers wanted to have one stress free evening so currently they're upstairs drinking as much alcohol as they can and rocking out to party type pop music. Bass could easily be the culprit for the lights, no need to worry about something that has no real parameters to assume somethings a threat.

"Any clue as to where they're going, we need to find out as soon as possible Agent," he said, obviously avoiding using Coulson's name seeing as the Avengers still are unaware that he is indeed alive. Risking the team finding out by not watching his choice of words is not a mistake he plans to make, especially after Steve Rogers getting much to close to all the covert projects S.H.I.E.L.D. had formally completed.

Some might say he's obsessed with eliminating these clones but that isn't quite true, he's always had one goal which hasn't changed since he started working as a S.H.I.E.L.D. Director way back when to now where he is the head of his personally built organization. After the falling of S.H.I.E.L.D. when it came out that HYDRA was inside his organization it was a shock, even to him.

All that time he believed he was doing good for the world, protecting it from those that want to harm it but then as it all was revealed, a man he trusted was an agent of HYDRA and his organization was infiltrated by those that want to control the world and he had no idea. It's his job to know who he's working for and all that time, who knows how many things he'd done that were actually for HYDRA's gain.

"No, sorry Sir. It appears that they anticipated that we would locate their temporary hideaway so they left nothing to chance. The only thing the did leave behind was a penny in the rooms center, Skye wants to pick it up but I don't think that's such as good idea," Coulson replies.

"Well you're right, especially if Shaylene is behind this trap, her tactics and skills are the same as your idol and so she thinks first before acting, it's most likely a trick to keep you occupied for awhile while they make their escape."

The other line of the phone is silent a minute before he hears Coulson take a deep breath. "We have some news sir, Agent May was looking in the ski-lodge after I told her to make sure Skye and Mack don't get themselves into trouble and she found a note in perfect handwriting written to you Director Fury."

"What does this note say?"

"...You should never leave your back turned to the dark..."

* * *

**Shaylene's POV:**

We stand in a small control room while Tara transfers the controls of Avengers Tower over to her small, sketchy laptop. She's already taken out the camera's in this room and has taken JARVIS, Tony Stark's AI down and now has him turned off. Before we transferring the controls we tested whether or not our mission: **Total Takeover** worked according to my plan.

Tara decided to test this by flickering the lights and seeing as all the Avengers are in their living room getting wasted on a wide variety of alcohol, typical adults wasting their life away with drinks that destroy brain cells. While my crew and I rarely come into contact with alcohol, there was one time when Tara got drunk at a party and the kids there were doing bets on who could drink the most alcohol without getting drunk or puking.

I think the wager was like fifteen dollars from everyone if you could drink the whole keg so, I decided to take them up on the bet. Tara was surprised as I'm not the type to do illegal things such as underage drinking but I knew it wouldn't effect me in the least and besides, we needed the money for food and new clothes. If it hasn't caught on, I can't get drunk, not that I'd want to anyways.

Being the clone of Steve Rogers, that side effect crossed over to me so I can win a lot of drinking bets and alcohol can't kill any of my brain cells so that's why I did it, but I haven't touched a drop since. The money didn't last long though, Tara needed a hoodie, that's where she got her iconic green furry hoodie, Nathan needed a pair of jeans and shoes, Ciara needed a long-sleeved shirt, Tarben needed a jacket, and Bryan needed a new notebook for his work in science and a new set of clothes.

As for me, well, I didn't get myself anything. I saved whatever money was left over for in case of the future needs. That was about two years ago and it's still odd that no one questioned why a fifteen and fourteen year old were at a college party but nonetheless, it helped us out a lot.

"It's ready!" Tara announces, tapping at the keys of her computer. "The Avengers are still to busy with their little part to notice that that light did in fact flicker, we need to get Fury, he's in the basement, on the phone with who I guess is half bald suit man and talking about how much they love each other or some shit like that but when need to go."

"Bryan, you stay here and keep out of sight, we don't want you loosing your temper again," I look away from him and to the rest of my crew. "As for you all, I'll have you as backup in case something goes wrong but I tell you when to strike but until then, I'll go in first."

Reaching for my pistols holstered in the waistband of my dirt coated and ripped up jeans, I pull them free and start for the door, my crew right behind me.

"How will we know and are you really just gonna walk down there, guns blazing? Doesn't seem like your type of battle strategy," Nathan speaks in, walking over to my side, green eyes filled with concern.

"Oh, you'll know, and who said I was using the door, I was think more along the lines of aerial pursuit, you'll all need to be able to see everything. Tara will be in the far right corner closet, Nathan on the left closet, across from Tara's. Ciara will be up high, bow and arrow ready for a strike and Tarben will hide in the shadows ready to have my back while I confront Fury."

We reach the end of the hall and one by one step through the open grate in the floor before silently climbing down to the metal platform lining the room of the basement. On the ground floor is Nick Fury, phone pressed to his ear. The rest of my crew follow me down the stairs as quiet as they can be and start filling in the places I ordered.

"Well you're right, especially if Shaylene is behind this trap, her tactics and skills are the same as your idol and so she thinks first before acting, it's most likely a trick to keep you occupied for awhile while they make their escape," Nick says into the phone to whoever he's talking to. I step forward and stand and few inches away from him.

He waits while the faint sound of a voice fills the room, only a few words are able for me to make out, 'note' is one of them.

"What does this note say?"

_You should never leave your back turned to the dark. _The note I wrote as a warning.

"Times up," I say, aiming the gun directly at Nick's head just as he turns around to face me, I stare at him through gritted teeth, my index finger carefully braced on the hair trigger, I've had enough...


	12. Tilting the Pendulum

_Chapter Twelve: Tilting the Pendulum_

_**That's right, chapter twelve, shit's about to get real, things should really get interesting now. Shay is so awesome isn't she, I have her do some really unique and bad ass things but this chapter will be great. As always follow this story and favorite and don't forget to leave me comments down below, I enjoy reading them!**_

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"Shaylene," he looks over me once, not a single emotion displaying on his face before flickering his eyes to the sleek black pistol aimed at his head and then meeting my gaze. "It's been a long time, ten years I believe."

"Lets skip the formalities shall we?" I narrow my eyes. "You know why I'm here."

"Do I? You shot Agent Hill, she's in the hospital with her leg in a cast, I assume you're the one who pulled the trigger seeing as how Nathan was much closer to Maria than you were."

He stalling, but something about that statement doesn't seem right and I can't quite put my finger on it.

A false smile falls across my lips. "I was never close with anyone, you should know that Nick Fury, just like you should learn to leave well enough alone, I came here— to this godforsaken tower—for one reason, and that reason is you, you've forced my hand Fury."

He says nothing, just stares at me, his eyes cold, almost detached from any type of emotions but in his eyes I can see him formulating a plan, a strategy to get out of here and to eliminate me at the same time.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," I say, noticing his hand reaching towards the gun holstered in the pocket of his black leather trench coat. "I'm not alone here, you're surrounded and if you make one wrong move, I can put you down like a rabid animal."

"What do you want then?"

Even though he asked the question I can tell he doesn't care one way or the other if I tell him or not, this is going to be much harder than I originally thought and that's bad. While the plan we have is nearly flawless there are still a few wild cards and independent variables that could very easily blow this plan up and sink it like the Titanic.

The Avengers upstairs are those variables. Sure they're partying right now but what happens when they're finished and notice that they cannot find Nick Fury anywhere so they come searching. If we stay here too long that will inhibit our escape plan and one wrong more will bring us out into the limelight for all the Avengers to see.

"Peace, I want you and your team to leave the six of us alone in peace, we've done nothing that makes us a risk to national security and we deserve to be free and not live like we're fugitives on the run from the government."

Nick Fury narrows his eyes at me like what I'm asking is some preposterous request that he couldn't possibly oblige to. It's the only thing I want, things are bad enough as it is, what with HYDRA after us, that last thing I need, or want, to worry about is Nick Fury and his government crew trying to capture us.

"And what will you do if I say no?"

My smirk deepens. "If you don't, I'll tell them, everything."

"Everything? Like what, how to save money on make-up?"

I shake my head, still keeping my eyes on him. "Unfortunately for you, no. Everything as in Project: T.A.H.I.T.I. and about how you know who is still you know what and how said you know who came to still be."

"If you do, you'll have to tell them about you, besides they'll never believe you."

"All I have to do is prove it and what with Tara's expertise, it shouldn't be too hard. Do you really want to test this theory Nick Fury, we were able to break into the most secure building in the world completely undetected, you have no idea how far I'm willing to go to protect my crew from people like you and keep the Avengers from them, they'll be crushed if things don't go like they might want, I'm trying to save us all from that."

"Is that why you're wearing that green hoodie with that hood up? To hide your face? No matter what, as long as you and your team is still alive there's is always and chance they will find out about you. I said this once and I'll say it again, you should never have been woken up and that's my mistake as well as creating the others."

"You're right, you shouldn't have woken me up. You should have eliminated me like S.H.I.E.L.D. had originally planned to and you shouldn't have messed around with science but you did and now you have to face the truth. We are more than happy to live alone in our desolate silence. If you agree to leave us alone we vanish and the Avengers will never have to know."

"The Avengers won't have to know what?" a new, male, voice chimes in and the blood in my veins freeze like ice is running through me instead.

I know that voice...

My foot juts out knocking Nick Fury to the ground.

Spinning I kick the gun from his pocket sending it sprawling across the white tile floor as I fire the gun in the direction of the voice.

Just when Steve Rogers come back out from behind the bookshelf when I stop firing I raise the gun to the ceiling and fire at each one of the four light fixtures over head, each bulb shattering into a million pieces and enclosing us all in darkness. Darting to the right I follow the plan we made for escape and I hope the rest of my crew got the memo when the lights went out.

I reach the metal staircase, I don't bother with climbing but instead pull myself up after each and every railing I find until I see the faint light from where the open grate is. Hauling myself over the railing I run as silently as possible and start to pull myself up through the grate when I feel three sets of hands pulling me up through the floor.

Whenever I enter the light from the room above the basement I adjust my eyes in time to see Tara, Tarben, and Nathan are the one that helped me up while Ciara has her bow and arrow raised as the guard. Tarben and I move the metal grate back in place and start toward the control room where Bryan is, we need to get him out before we worry about Steve Rogers and the rest of the Avengers.

"Holy shit," Tara gasps after a minute. "Was that really—?"

"Yes..." I say, my voice completely void of any sort of emotion; I can't even think about it myself much less confide to my crew, I'm not ecstatic about my encounter with him, in fact, I wish it didn't happen but at least he couldn't really see my face.

"Best day ever...!" Tara whispers, excitement still evident as she grins like a loony.

"No, this is very bad," Nathan growls, glaring daggers at her. "If he saw us, he'll definitely tell the rest of his... friends? I don't know but either way they'll know about up and that's dangerous."

"It's not like they'll kill us."

I look over at her. "How do you know? Did you read those files leaked from S.H.I.E.L.D. and what about whatever lie Fury might concoct to get them on his side, who do you think they're going to believe?"

Nate picks up my sentence. "The man who brought them together to save the world," he looks at me and then back to Tara. "Or the girl that held Nick Fury at gunpoint, the choice is hilariously obvious."

We round the corner and enter the control room but the second that we do, alarms goes off. Red lights flash on and off and a loud buzzer type beeping rings throughout the hallways, they know.

"Damn..." Ciara growls through gritted teeth, re-notching her arrow back in place. "We need to get out of here, now, otherwise we'll be trapped with the worlds mightiest heroes and we'll loose, big time."

Wait a minute, that might just work...

"Maybe we don't need to fight them, we need to outsmart them to escape, their first idea would be that I would go for the doors or windows because duh! They'll think I'm stupid."

"What are you suggesting then?" Bryan asks, scooting closer to us to hear the conversation in full detail.

I grin. "Lets go up and out, rooftop escape, Tara's whips will make a mean swing and I'm sure we might be able to find rope or some other type of asset capable of helping us make a getaway."

Tarben rolls his eyes before commenting. "How are we supposed to get to the roof when we're in the tower of super people, they have us outmatched and outgunned on every front, there's no way for us to win."

"Damn Malibu Ken, always so negative," Tara says, rolling her eyes.

I cut in. "What we have to do is be on much higher alert and strike first, we cannot afford to make a mistake because if we do, you're right Tarben, we'll loose any sort of battle with them but we can outsmart them on every possible front, we have an advantage. We've got the element of surprise because they think there's only me here, as far as we know, and they don't know what we can do."

_"You're worthless... A waste of space!" _The words ring through my head.

A constant ever present memory bent of haunting me at the worst possible moments but I can't give into the desire to dwell upon the words that internally tear me to shreds, now isn't the time. I have to grin and bare it until we escape and I can hide away by myself and lick my wounds in privacy like lions in the wild do but for now a facade is my only defense again the memories that haunt me.

Shaking my head I rise to my feet after our three or four minute meeting. "Tara, pull up the map of Avengers Tower and see if you can get an exact location on each one of the Avengers. This will work much easier if we know exactly where they are and what they're planning."

Tarben leans against the closed door of the control room in case any of the Avengers come by and attempt to open it, a security protocol type thing that will let us know when they're at our location. Tara taps at her computer keys as black background and blue colored lines of the tower appear on the small screen. Tara's uses JARVIS for her own gain and manages to get exact locations, identifying them with specific dots colored accordingly.

Tony Stark is red, Steve Rogers is blue, Clint Barton is purple, Bruce Banner is green, Thor is yellow, and Natasha Romanoff is white.

"Pull up the video feed from the main room," I tell Tara, eyes fixed solely on the computer as Tara does what I asked. It takes her a few more seconds than one would expect but she brings it up nonetheless.

"We need to split up, three teams of two and search for this intruder," Steve Rogers voice rings through the speakers, using his authoritative _Captain America_ voice, ugh! I roll my eyes in annoyance.

"Barton and I can go through the bottom half of the tower," Natasha Romanoff chimes in, her voice obedient and emotionless. She gives nothing away, the way a spy and assassin should be. Those two won't cause to many issue if they're going to be on the bottom floor.

"Thor and I can been in the top of the building so at least I'll be closer to getting out of the tower, just in case," Bruce speaks up, obviously concerned for the safety of his friend in the tower not that I blame him. The Hulk is dangerous but Bryan has more control of his than Bruce Banner does so we don't have nearly as much to worry about as they do.

That only leaves Tony Stark and Steve Rogers on the middle floors, where the six of us are, irony if anything.

"So," Tarben speaks. "We're stuck on this floor with a genius inventor and a super soldier, fantastic, can I kill myself now or...?"

Glaring daggers at him, I spin around and face him. "Quit complaining already, if you want to die here then die, I'm done. Either stop being so negative or I may just leave you, got it!?"

"Y-yeah... I-I..."

He seems at a loose for words and I pay him no mind. "Let's get ready, Tara pack up your stuff and collect and steal and data from here you want but make sure it can't be traced and make it snappy we need to get a move on."

"Alright," is Tara's response but I don't register it.

All I can think about is getting far, far away from this tower and as far away from the Avengers as I can possibly get.


	13. Bittersweet Symphony

_Chapter Thirteen: Bittersweet Symphony_

**_That was such a cliffhanger last time, I'm not sure how you made it, what with waiting and all but no need to fear, I've finally posted the next part of what happens. This is been such a long awaited chapter that everyone should be excited for, anyways, as always be sure to follow, favorite, and leave comments on this story and now read on!_**

* * *

I sent each of us off in a group like the Avengers did for floor conquering but instead I have us all use a different route to the roof. Tara and I will travel together using the most obvious route to the living room, Nathan and Bryan will go around from the left, and Tarben and Ciara with go around in a similar route to Nathan and Bryan but will take the right side route instead.

While the idea of separating each of us sends chills up my spine, especially after the last time we split up and Phil Coulson and his team captured us, I still believe it's the best strategy, especially when it comes to something as large scale as this. We're trying to break out of one of the most secure buildings in the world, Avengers Tower, and it's not an easy task.

My guard was down and I didn't pay as close attention to the surroundings as I should have so it's all on me. If I'd paid more attention then we wouldn't have to do a high-risk stunt for an escape, we would have still be able to slip out totally undetected and made a quick, clean getaway. Tara's just packed her things up when I notice her whips in hand.

"Keep those hidden Tara, that's another ace in the hole. The Avengers don't know what we can do, I already sent Nathan and Bryan and Tarben and Ciara on their way and told them to keep all their abilities secret unless they need to."

Hauling the back over her shoulder Tara strolls toward me, slipping her whips into her jean pockets. She reaches her hand up and hooks her fingers around the hood of her green jacket, that she'd lent to me for my encounter with Nick Fury, and pulls the hood up and over my head. Great idea, that'll keep anyone from seeing my face, as long as the rest of them keep their hoods up as well.

Since she'd given me her hoodie, I'd given her mine, a bright blue pull over with red and white stripped sleeves. Ironic I know, to be totally honest I hate the jacket because it looks like the American flag, now I'm not saying I hate the United States, that's my home. I hate it because the hoodie looks like Captain America's uniform and like his shield.

"Are you ready?" I ask her, reloading my pistols.

When Tara nods, I close up the gun and get it ready for firing.

Placing my ear on the door I listen for traces of people outside or anywhere in the hallway nearest to us but when nothing stands out from the obvious and what one would expect, I slowly peel the door open to reveal a practically barren hallway.

"First floor's clear Captain," Natasha Romanoff's voice rings through the comms in all of our ears. Before I sent everyone off I had Tara connect our comms to the feedback from the Avengers communication system to keep the us in the loop. "Baron and I are heading up to the second floor and report when we finish."

"Alright," he responds. "Keep me updated."

A snort of disgust and a scowl are my only tell of my disdain for the 'oh so great' Captain America, the american patriot who's oh so true and perfect, always fighting for the world that isn't his anymore. We step out into the hallway, my guns are raised and I'm ready to fire if we come into contact with anyone. Despite her calm demeanor, I'm fairly confident that Tara is terrified.

She's barely talked at all and when she has, it seems she's lost her enthusiastic and sarcastic overtones for her sentences but if I wasn't the one in charge I'd probably behave the same way but unlike her I cannot afford that luxury because everyone is relying on me to get all of us out and if I'm stoic and unable to properly think we might as well surrender.

"Man of iron, Banner and I have searched the rooftop and saw no one of the sorts, we're now to head to what is known as the lab rooms on the second to the top floor."

"Understood point break," Tony Stark responds and I notice Tara freeze momentarily at his voice before shaking it off and following me as we clear the hallways and start down a long narrow hallway with light tan colored carpeting. Fear bundles up in the pit of my stomach with each passing minute, something bad has happened, I can already tell.

"We caught a glimpse of something, someone down here," Clint Barton speaks over the comm. "We didn't get a clear view but whoever you saw in the basement didn't come alone. I feel like we're missing a big piece of the puzzle here."

"I get the same feeling Barton," Steve replies while I resist the urge to roll my eyes. "This person I saw had Nick Fury at gunpoint, she mentioned a few things that connects with S.H.I.E.L.D. and seemed to want him to leave whoever they are alone."

"So you think this person isn't dangerous or what?" Natasha Romanoff chimes in.

"No, not that they or their crew aren't dangerous, I think they could potentially be but I think they're trying to avoid confrontation, why else would they be hiding? They have to have some connection to Nick Fury, what we need to do is group back up in the living room where Fury is and ask him his relationship with this unknown characters and maybe we'll understand what's going on."

"Is that what you want us to do Captain?" Thor asks, his voice loud and booming, sending my ear into a frenzy of agony from how loud he actually responded to that comment.

"Yes, everyone report to the living room and we'll figure out what's going on from Fury, Rogers out."

The line goes silent and when footsteps sound I grab Tara's arms and pull her into an open room enveloped in complete darkness with the faint light from the hallway filling the door frame. I have Tara farther back in the room behind a metal desk while I stand closest to the door with my guns held in defense and the pounding of feet draw closer with each passing second.

I can't see who is standing in the hallway we vacated but to me it doesn't really matter, protecting Tara and my crew is my only thought, nothing else is important enough for me to register.

"Maybe she's in here," I hear a familiar voice, breathing a sigh of relief I reveal myself to Nathan, Bryan, Tarben, and Ciara. Thank goodness, they're all alright and they seem to sense my relief as they smile back. Ushering them into the room we all huddle together in the rooms corner in the darkest part of the room to discuss our next move.

"We can't let them see us," Nathan starts, running a hand aimlessly through his messy red hair. "They already caught a glimpse of Bryan and me so we can't afford to confront them, unless you want them to know about us."

The last part of that sentence is directed at me; however, I don't hold all the power which is something they all seem to forget, we're a team and if that is what they want then, even if I disagree, I will go along with their decision.

"It's not my decision to make," I look around at each one of them. "It's our decision, this will effect much more than just me, it'll effect everyone of us so we, as a team, need to decisions our next course of action."

"Well, if we're to make a pros and cons list we could probably find our conclusion there," Bryan point out, mindlessly scratching at his forearm.

"Pro: If we stay we'll be rich..."

"Tara!" I snap, glaring at her.

She shrugs her shoulders nonchalantly. "What? I'm not lying. That's totally and completely accurate, Tony Stark's a billionaire making more a day than you make in a week at the shitty fast food jobs you work just to get us by."

"Con: They might not want us or not believe us," Ciara shoots back.

"Pro: Shay won't have to stay up all night on lookout duty," Nathan says.

"Con: Fury may get them on board with exterminating us or locking us away like lab animals," Tarben chimes in, a valid point especially coming from him. Usually he thinks of live in the moment and who cares about consequence when we can do something rash right now.

At that, everyone glances over at Tarben, surprised as I was. "Agreed, stay the hell away from the Avengers," Tara states, her voice emotionless from what I assume is shocking realization.

"The Avengers went to the living room to confront Nick Fury on what he knows about us, we should listen and see what he tells then," I say, decided what we should do. "We'll move discretely and remain hidden by the living room and listen in on what Nick Fury tells them about us."

Nodding their agreement, I get to my feet and one by one they rise and follow me as I flee the room in complete silence. Tara's directly behind me as her fingers rest on my shoulders like we're playing a game of follow the leader. I ignore her fingers on me as I lead them through the hallway, voices ring through the room signalling we're heading in the right direction.

"—Was that in the basement?" Steve's voice fills the hallway, I usher everyone into open doors in the hall as I near the door closest to the opening by the living room. Peeking around I catch the glimpse of Nick Fury sitting on the couch, facing my direction, with all the Avengers standing and or sitting in a semi-circle around him, their backs to me. They're dressed in casual attire which is normal but odd seeing as I've only seen them in their uniforms.

"_That_ was a she, a woman from the past whom I have some... connections with," Fury replies, giving them vague and useless information to cryptic for common understanding.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean Patchy? You were held at gunpoint, I figured you'd be more inclined to tell us everything," Tony Stark speaks before tipping back a small round glass of scotch.

Tony is dressed in a black AC/DC T-shirt and dark blue jeans, his hair fixed as usual and based on the purple bags under his eyes he's drunk a lot and it's been awhile since he's gotten a good nights sleep.

"Project T.A.H.I.T.I., she mentioned it in the basement, what does that mean?" Steve again, he's dressed in a plain white T-shirt, khaki pants, and his tan leather jacket with his blond hair styled as usual but he instead uses his _Captain America_ voice. I roll my eye. That voice of his is only used when he wants to get people to spill information and when he's being the oh so perfect american hero.

"All of those things are classified and even if it wasn't I'd still keep quiet about, but I will tell you that that's what she's using to blackmail me into keeping quiet about her."

"Is this about Shaylene that— as you claimed— 'robot assassin'," Steve uses air quotes around the last part. "I overheard about, come on Sir, you didn't really think I fell for such an obvious lie."

"Barton and I encountered, well, caught a glimpse of others, this Shaylene person isn't alone, is she?" Natasha Romanoff finally speaks up, stepping closer to where Nick Fury sits. Her short red hair falls in natural waves and her green eyes are cold and distant. She's dressed in black slacks a lighter black tank top with an orange shirt underneath.

"No, I doubt she would come alone, she must have brought her crew which explains how she got in completely undetected, they must have taken out Stark's AI for their time here, It explains why we haven't been informed of their whereabouts," Nick Fury replies, tipping them off to the fact that their security AI system hasn't been working this whole time.

"Damn..." Tara's voice hisses through the comm units.

"I'm not kidding, tell us what we're up against, she, they could have killed you, yet insist on keeping this secret," Steve says, voice flooded with an emotion I can only guess as annoyance, not that I blame him, but still he should learn to mind his own business.

"Many years ago S.H.I.E.L.D., back when it was still around," I roll my eyes and resist the urge to snort as Fury continues. "There was a project we started and it was, a bad idea to say the least, but these, people, that are here are apart of it and they're dangerous. Originally we had a good purpose for creating them but, the oldest has a bit of a rebellious street and broke free."

"These, people," Romanoff starts. "How old were they?"

"Young, very young but they've been free for ten years now and only recently did I learn about their existence and my goal had been to neutralize their powers then allow them to go free again because with powers like those, they're to dangerous to be allowed to wander around the streets of New York unsupervised."

'Neutralize,' more like exterminate, or take care of.

"There's six of them, each one specializing in a special field with their own skill set and intellectual levels. While I cannot tell you much about them, what I can say is that there are three boys and three girls," he pauses a moment, thinking carefully about his words as I start to formulate a plan to escape, I can't use the rooftop but maybe we can use the elevator, or the stairs.

"Shaylene, the person in the basement who had me at gunpoint, she's one of them, one of the most dangerous actually. She formulates every aspect of the scenario then calculates a plan around the circumstance."

Natasha taps her fingers on her tight while running her other hand through her red hair, similar to the way that Nathan does. That's obviously where he gets it from. "So what is Shaylene, the ring leader, commander, team leader?"

Nick shoots her a glare with his one good eye at her mocking remark. "Yes, she is. Shaylene is the force behind their infiltration and the leader behind any and all operations and isn't one to be underestimated. If you do she will not hesitate to use your lack of faith in her abilities against you, she's a master of manipulation and battle strategy, not that I'm all that surprise, considering..."

Tony raises a hand to his mouth and pantomimes yawning before pulling his arm back and pretends to look at a watch on him arm before posing in an impatient stance. "So Cyclopes, plan on telling us the names of the so called 'them' because we're running on blanks here."

Fury shakes his head. "The reason Shaylene came here is to blackmail me into leaving her and her team alone and I supposed, had Rogers not shown up, they would have peacefully left without further conflict, in fact I'm positive they're still trying to find a way out at this very moment."

"Why are 'they' so adamant about not having an encounter with us, we don't know them as far as we know and besides, it's not like we'll try to kill them," Clint Barton speaks, sitting down on the black leather couch facing Fury. Barton is dressed in a plaid blue shirt like you'd expect a man who owns a farm would with a black jacket pulled over in gray denim jeans.

Slowly but surely everyone of them start moving closer to the zone where I need them for the plan to work, just one more step...

"Now..." I whisper, narrowing my eyes as I push off the wall, guns raised. Spinning into the doorway I fire the gun at the light switches, a roar of peoples voices fill the living room, especially when the lights go out and the room is swarmed with darkness.

"What the hell is going on!" Tony shouts somewhere in the dark.

"I don't know Tony, as soon as I have night vision then we'll know!" Natasha replies, annoyance in her tone.

"Tara," I command her to instill the next part of the plan. The loud thump of the Hulk-Proof glass box indicates it's landed in the correct spot when Tony Stark goes on a rant about how he's trapped behind a glass wall and the other Avengers constant complaints as well, the only person who doesn't say a word is dear Captain America whose seemed to take the dead silent approach.

"This way," Tara says, brushing past me, her computer open for the night vision aspect of her computer. We all file into the elevator when the lights in the living room start to flicker. "JARVIS take us down to the basement."

Just as the doors are about to close, the backup generator kicks on and the living room is soon soaked in an ugly yellow-ish glow of light, Steve Rogers and the rest of the Avengers look at me, Steve and my eyes meet but then I let my gaze fall to the ground as the doors shut and I lean back, hoping none of them got a close look at my face. Letting out a sigh of relief, I close my eyes as the elevator descends down floor after floor and all I can think about is getting to the third safe house.

However, when the elevator doors open, instead of coming face to face with an empty, shadowy garage we are instead greeting with a group of HYDRA soldiers dressed in ink-black uniforms, their octopus pins shinning brightly like the sun.

In the back of the garage, three of the HYDRA agents are clustered together with their hands clutching onto some devices with a flat shiny black base and a round circular metal ball attached to the bases center, large enough to crush somebody on impact. It's must be some new device designed by Tony Stark as it holds the signature Stark Industries logo on its side.

All eyes are on the six of us and as soon as the momentary pause is gone, the gun fight really starts. This day couldn't possibly get any worse, even if it tried. Turning to my crew I nod at them.

"Let's kick some serious HYDRA behind," I raise my pistols, and pull the trigger.


	14. Butterfly Effect

_Chapter Fourteen: Butterfly Effect_

**_Welcome back to the next installment of this story which is amazing, especially after I left you all with such a cliffhanger what with HYDRA there at the tower and all. So as if I need to say this, follow, favorite, and leave comments on this series and let me know in the comments below what you think HYDRA is up to!_**

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My crew and I fan out, each of us claiming a particular checkpoint in the room, enabling us to have the HYDRA agents boxed in like a caged animal. Across the room I see Tara has out her whips, holding each of the handles in a different hand, thumb on the button to release the actual whip portion of the device she created. Typically the whips are held inside the handles as her whips are made of pure energy.

Two men scurry towards me while more agents file into the room from closed doorways and darkened corners, out from under tarps, and any space and crevice or crack imaginable like ants in the winter. I know what I have to do, nodding to Tara and the rest of my crew I press my hand against the comm unit in my ear and wait a few seconds for the HYDRA agents to close the distance between us.

When they do...

"Let's teach these HYDRA scum that we're not to be trifled with," I say, springing forward.

Swerving around from the corner behind a stack of wood boxes I dart at the HYDRA agents with their backs to me. Kicking my foot out, hitting the agent I assume is on steroids in the back of his thigh. Steroids, instead of looking back, swings around in a 180 degree spin, arm hurling towards me. Jumping out of the way I narrowly miss the impact of his blow.

"You're not to smart Blondie, look behind you," Steroids says, his voice deep, rough, and gravelly.

Spinning I catch the wrist of the second agents who was headed towards me, he's much smaller than Steroids but he's much smarter, that much I can tell for sure even without knowing this agent. I yank him forward, releasing him as he hurdles into Steroids. It doesn't phase him, he simply pushes the other agents to the ground and steps forward.

Sprinting straight at him I swing my foot outward, hitting Steroids in the stomach and knocking him back a few steps. As he starts to recover I swing my the side of my forearm towards him, hitting Steroids right in the middle of his face, knocking him backward. He lands on the polished concrete with a loud thud. Just as I turn, Smarty Pants reaches me and I grit my teeth to keep from crying out.

The other HYDRA agent that I threw into Steroids managed to stab me with the knife, jamming it right into me, just below my rib cage. Blood pools out of the wound and drips over the handle of the knife embedded in me and drips onto the floor. Reaching down I grab the agent's wrist and twist to the left until I hear the familiar _crack_ of breaking bone before bringing my other arm in and swinging my elbow at the side of his head.

He goes unconscious as soon as my elbow collides with his head and I just left him collapse on the floor, eyes shut and blood trailing out of his ear and down the side of his neck. His eyes are tightly held shut, probably from the amount of strength I used and the pain inflicted. Curling my pale, ghostly white fingers around the hilt of the knife, my teeth sink into my bottom lip.

This is gonna hurt and sure enough the second I start pulling the knife back the burning pain starts, it's so intense I have to close my eyes. Inch by inch is just excruciating, this knife is like four or five inches in total blade length. The metallic tangy taste of blood fills my mouth and that's when I realize that by biting my lip I've actually made my bottom lip bleed.

Fed up with the slow removal process I release my lips from my teeth's death lock and yank the knife free, it plummets to the ground with a loud clang as the blade clatters to the cement, stained a ghoulish darkened red shade that reminds me of... no, not now I can't think about that now. _Red, red was everywhere, along the..._ No!

Taking a deep breath I shake my head before turning to my crew as they fight the rest of the HYDRA agents. Tara spins, using her bright glowing, golden whips like a defense and offence at the same time. She swings one of the whips forward at one of the four HYDRA agents surrounding her, the whip swathes the agents ankle, knocking him off his feet, which is followed by the sound of what one would associating with frying bacon as the man screams out in pain.

He claws furiously at his ankle as smoke sizzles off the whip. Tara's pulls on the whip, flipping him over against the floor, his ankle covered in bumps, bright cherry red, and covered in bleeding sores. Nathan sweeps his foot out, knocking one of the guards to the ground before grabbing the arm of the agent behind him and flipping the agent over his head and letting him fall into the other agent already grounded.

Glancing up I see Ciara in the rafters, bow and arrow aimed and ready, her right eye is closed and she has the string and arrow pulled back. She releases the sting and the arrow flies through the air with perfect precision. The arrow zips past Nathan and penetrates through the gun wielding arm of the HYDRA agent sneaking up behind him.

"Time to go!" one of the HYDRA agents yell, then, in the blink of an eye they all go from tangible enemies into nothing, everyone's gone, all the HYDRA agents gone and so is the device the broke into the tower to steal. It's all my fault the even managed to get into the tower, the broke in because they must have known that Tara would have taken all the alarm systems out so they could easily get in without being detected.

If we hadn't shown up HYDRA wouldn't have gotten whatever that device they wanted and I don't even know what it does but if HYDRA wants it then it must be pretty dangerous.

"What the hell just happened, where did they go?" I hear Tara chime in the background but all I can think about is the possibilities of what that machine could do, with Tony Stark being the creator there are a million and one possibilities and being harmless isn't one of my many conclusions. Then there's still the issue of the odd petri dishes at the blood bank and the numbers on our files.

All these things connect in one way or the other and HYDRA is using this to their advantage, I remember Tara telling me how she felt the HYDRA agents we intercepted at the blood bank were decoys to keep us busy and I have to agree with her theory, it make sense that HYDRA would have wanted to keep us busy but if they can teleport away from here why didn't they when we first arrived?

That device they used to escape must be experimental or perhaps it can only be used once because if they could teleport in and out at their own discretion then they would have done so when we stumble in on their mission. Unless they wanted to confront us, test our strengths and weakness's to see where we excel and where we're flawed as a team but I don't think that's it.

Something else is going on, something behind the scenes. It's something big and completely out of this world and not in the good way, I can feel the urgency for me to figure this out looming overhead like a ticking time bomb, as each day passes the closer the world gets to this dangerous revelation that presses down on my shoulders and I need to stop it, whatever it is.

"Oh my God, Shay. You're bleeding, like really, really bleeding," Tara gasps so suddenly. I didn't even realize she'd walked over to me, that's how zoned out I've been. Shaking my head I look around, noticing my crew has gathered around me, all eyes on the stab wound inflicted by the HYDRA agent.

Blinking a few times, I feel the pain settling back in. "Oh, I didn't really notice. Sorry about the hoodie Tara, I'll get you a new one."

Tara looks up at me, her lips curling in a reluctant grin, she lets out a slight chuckle and shakes her head. "No, don't worry about the stupid hoodie, besides I could probably sell it on Ebay for a lot of dough."

"Bryan, what do we need to do. Obviously we need to stop the bleeding but..." Nathan starts, pulling Bryan closer to where I stand. Looking down I see that all this time I've had my hand pressed to the wound but the blood has dripped all the way down the hoodie, staining it a dark crimson and has trailed through my fingers and over my hands, staining them as well.

While Bryan may not be a doctor he was taught basic type of medical procedure such as stopping or slowing down blood loss and other things of the sorts just like Tara was trained in computer and mechanics back at S.H.I.E.L.D. and while she was naturally good at it due to whose DNA she was comprised of, they still taught them other types of skills to help them in the field.

"Cloth, we need to type of cloth to tightly wrap around the wound, the tighter it is the less blood is lost," Bryan chips, looking around the basement for a cloth of any sort of material to help him.

Ciara's grunts as her feet collide with the polished concrete flooring on the basement but shakes it off and runs to my side, the right side where Tara is not, she places a hand carefully on my shoulder and looks down at my bloodied hand. Her eyes widen and she bites back a gasp. "Oh, wow. T-that is a lot of blood, Tara likes to exaggerate but this is... Whoa."

The stinging of pain intensifies, forcing me to close my right eye and grit my teeth before responding. "Thank you so much for your commentary, it's very helpful at this moment, there's nothing better you could be doing besides making your carefully crafted comments."

Tara pulls out her computer while I press my hand tighter to try to slow the bleeding even more while Bryan still searchers frantically for any type of cloth or binding with Nathan and Tarben looking as well. Tara put her whips away, stuffing them back into her pockets but glare at her computer before swearing under her breath. "Damn, damn, damn..."

Nathan, Bryan, and Tarben all look away from their quest to find cloth and glance at Tara as her swears while Ciara and I do the exact same thing, something bad must have happened, her tone was completely serious, no joke or jab in it at all.

"What happened?" I ask, keeping my emotion at bay. One of the worst thing I can do is to let my emotions get the best of me, if I don't stay focused on the task at hand I may be blinded by feelings which isn't something needed right now.

"The Avengers broke free from the Hulk-Proof cage and are now somewhere in the tower. JARVIS, locate all six of the Avengers and Nick Fury, and tell us were they're headed," she speaks to the mic on her computer.

Just as soon as she says that the loud _ping_ of the elevator door opening behind us tells me all I need to know about their whereabouts. Irony seems to choose this moment to strike when JARVIS, the British male voice of Tony Stark's AI replies to Tara's— now obvious —question.

"Behind you."

"Oh thank you so much Captain obvious, clearly I can't see that, I've caught a case of oblivious syndrome!" she growls, brown eyes glaring up at the ceiling, before rolling her eyes and reaching to her pockets. Obviously going for her whips. Reaching down to my waistband with my freehand, I curl my fingers around the handle of the gun and spin around, facing all the Avengers head on, the hood of Tara's hoodie still hiding my face, at least I hope so.

The sound of footsteps catches my attention, none of the Avengers are moving so it must be someone else. "Give up Shaylene, don't you see, you've lost this fight. It was doomed from the beginning."

"Nick Fury," I growl out, keeping myself tilted forward to hide the blood stains on the hoodie but seeing as the room is incredibly dark I probably don't even have to stand this way. Steve Rogers stands in front of the others, his shield in front of him. To his right is Tony Stark in his red and gold Iron Man suit, the arc reactor glowing a radiant blue.

To Rogers left is Natasha Romanoff, guns held up, ready to fire, behind her and in the middle behind everyone else is Clint Barton, his recurve bow and arrows with him. Nick Fury steps into the room where I can see him and leans back on the wall by Tony Stark, a slight smirk on his face. Eye patch present as usual and he seems happy with himself, having finally 'captured' us.

I let my gaze slid to Tara, flickering my gaze to the closed doorway in the back of the basement and Tara seems to understand but looks at me shocked and seems to second guess my orders. She staggers back a few steps and shakes her head, mouthing no, over and over again be fire finally just saying it out loud. "No, no way in hell. The Earth will have to freeze over before I or any of us would just... leave you here and—"

"Do what I told you," I say, moving my hand on my wound ever so slightly.

"If you move that hand you're gonna..."

"I know, go!" I pull my hand away and instantly feel the blood spreading across the fabric, soaking it in my crimson red blood. Tara pulls out her computer and types at the keys as I pull out the other pistol as the room starts to sway. All the lights come to life, filling the room with it's bright ray. Nathan darts forward, pressing his hand to the wound below my rib cage.

"Shaylene," Nathan says, pressing his hand harder against the wound and the pain rattles up my spine and I grit my teeth to keep from crying out. Black dots dance across my vision from the blood loss. Tara reaches for my pistols and I reluctantly give her the guns as the sweet relief in the wave of unconsciousness call to me and my eyes flutter shut, and I give into the darkness that comes to consume me.


	15. Wings of Heaven

_Chapter Fifteen: Wings of Heaven_

**_Welcome back to the next chapter and trust me, the next chapter will reveal all so I hope everyone enjoys this and has a bit of fun and Shay is such a badass in this story, geez. Anyways be sure to follow, favorite, and comment on this story, also tell me what you think happened in Shaylene's past to make her the way she is._**

* * *

_Beep..._

I kept my eyes closed, nothing can possibly be worse than opening my eyes to see where I'm trapped. At least I assume I'm trapped somewhere or being guarded by someone at the very least. Why am I even still alive? They should have let me bleed out, would've been better if they had.

_Beep..._

My mouth feels like sandpaper and I can feel some gauze wrapped around the wound which I already know has healed, one of the few benefits of having traces of the super soldier serum in my DNA, I heal much faster. All I can assume is that whatever the knife that the HYDRA agent stabbed me with must have been coated in some sort of healing slowing coating.

_Beep..._

That's it, my eyes flicker open and I look around a small white room with a heart monitor beside the bed where I reside. A window is placed on the wall where the head of the bed is placed. No one appears to be in the room so at the very least no one is inside the room by there are probably guards stationed outside the door and most likely camera's monitoring.

It takes me a minute but I realize that I'm still dressed in the now dried but bloodied up hoodie of Tara's and my heavily stained gray shirt, even the hood is still up but the only indication that my clothing has been messed with is that the hoodie's been unzipped for... whoever to tend to my wounds. My first priority is finding my crew, they need me and I need them.

Reaching under my shirt I unwrap the gauze around the wound and when I do, let my fingers graze over where the injury was inflicted only to feel a slight scab meaning it should be gone completely in a matter of minutes. I heal much faster when I'm awake so it makes much more sense then one might think, shaking my head I toss the gauze in the trash bin beside the bed and climb out of the freaky contraption.

I hate hospitals, especially those types of bed with the plastic sidings and how they are able to bind you to the bed if you have a fit of anger all because it reminds me so much of the past. The past I so desperately try to forget, yet somehow still defines my life today and effects any and all of my decisions. Somethings will never go away and my memories are one of them.

Before even reaching for the doorknob I glance through the small rectangular window on the door to see exactly what I suspected, two guards. A man and a woman, not Clint and Natasha but two guards, former agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. before the Helicarrier incident. They must be the one who don't know that S.H.I.E.L.D. is still around and weren't high enough in level to know Coulson's alive.

I reach into my pocket and pull out a pocket knife, flicking the blade free to shimmy the lock. Twisting the tip of the knife around I slowly turn until I hear the faint, muffled clink of the lock from wrapping my sleeve covered hand over the doorknob. As soon as the door's unlocked I close the blade and put the pocket knife back in my pocket.

Kicking my foot forward the door swings out and the agents move towards me, reaching out I knock the male guards feet out from under him, catching the woman's arm, I flip her over my shoulder and let her fall to the floor and swing just as the male guard gets to his feet.

* * *

**Tara's POV:**

Lord Baldy rests back against the metal wall, the light from the ceiling reflecting off his head, he must have had Maria Hill polish it up for him when he last went to visit her in the hospital. He's wearing his Men in Black uniform, eye patch covering his left eye, his signature scowl is present as an attempt to intimidate me, too bad he's failing miserably.

Leaning back in the interrogation chair I place my hands behind my head and place my feet crossed on the metal table in front of me, a signature smirk on my face as he just glowers at me, a look I'm used to receiving from our fearless leader Shay. I haven't seen her since Fury knocked the lights out to keep the Earth's mightiest heroes from seeing our faces and had agents take her to the medical bay.

It's not like we have a hell of a lot to loose but Baldy managed to convince the Avengers that he could handle us since Shay was out of commission and he was right, we obeyed like good little prisoners should. Shay'll be on the war path once she realizes we're being held in, what Patches calls, 'secure containment facility units' which is really code for cells.

"Are you gonna say anything Willy One Eye cause if not, I can be doing a million and one more important things than being stared at by a cyclopes. I thought you were killed in the third X-Men movie," I say, curling my lip in snide to match my condescending tone.

"What do you know?" he asks, voice cold, void of anything.

Glancing around I cackle. "I assume the camera's are off, aren't they Nick Fury, otherwise the Avengers might hear. Learn about all the secret shit that you've done, have hidden away like us. Your problem children that didn't stay under your oppressive thumb, the impressive and highly failed clones that could never ever compare to our predecessors. We know a lot more than you could possibly know Fury."

The sneer on my face falls away as an alarm blares in the room above me, I grin. Glancing away from the ceiling and back to Fury, with a smirk on my lips. "Guess you better go get that, you know Shay doesn't like waiting."

I watch as Baldy turns, ready to walk through the door when it's kicked open and a shadow of a girl stands in the cloud of night behind the door before shoving Fury back and closing the door behind her as the girl steps into the light and reveals Shay. A prominent frown is shown as clear as day on her face, the hood on my hoodie is stilled pulled over her head, hiding her blond hair from sight and she's dressed in her bloodied clothes from earlier.

"There's the cavalry, sort of, considering Melinda May isn't here I suppose that statement's not quite as accurate as I would like but then again, she was on board with Patches whole 'kidnapping children is cool' motto so I'm glad she isn't here, you people need to learn that abducting children isn't cool, I believe there are laws prohibiting that" I comment, shrugging my shoulders. "Shay?"

* * *

**Shay's POV:**

Glancing over to where Tara sits, comfortably reclined in her chair, she nods for me to recite the New York laws and protocols on kidnapping, I can already tell and she's right, I have it memorized so I restate it word for word.

"S 135.25 Kidnapping in the first degree. A person is guilty of kidnapping in the first degree when he abducts another person and when: 2. He restrains the person abducted for a period of more than twelve hours with intent to:

**(a)** Inflict physical injury upon him or violate or abuse him sexually; or

**(b)** Accomplish or advance the commission of a felony; or

**(c)** Terrorize him or a third person; or

**(d)** Interfere with the performance of a governmental or political function."

Tara grins and claps loudly like she's giving a standing ovation. "Ladies and Gentlemen, the living rule book has just granted the world with more information and rules, you're welcome!"

I ignore her, and fix my gaze on Fury, not a single comedic element in my eyes, he knows I'm not joking. I've never been one with a real sense of humor, to much stress on my shoulders to ever think about comedy. "Keep your mouth shut Fury or else," with that I jump forward, pressing on a pressure point on his neck and he goes limp, falling to the floor.

As soon as I'm sure he's out I make a beeline for Tara and help her break the restraints around her waist that bind her to the chair. When the third and final bind snaps Tara gets up and helps me restrain the unconscious Nick Fury before I open the door. The alarm still blares, filling the hallway with its constant buzzing racket it makes.

"Do you know where the others are being held? We need to get them out as soon as possible and get as far from this tower as we can, the less they know the better and the longer we're running around here lost the more likely they are to find out, we'll never find out what H," I glance back at her to make sure she understands I'm talking about HYDRA.

She nods her head.

"Is doing and when have to find out, they need to be stopped."

Tara flips her dark brown hair over her shoulders before running a hand over her face. "Yeah, we need to find out. The rest of the group is locked in room 201-A in the closet where you'll have to type in a pass code. JAY-1-05, I watched him type it in, don't have a clue what it means."

My blood runs cold, freezes like ice. That pass code, impossible. W-why would he use that code, that's not some random made up password, it's a date, one I know all too well. Tara seems to sense my hesitation as she glance my way, honey-brown eyes twinkling with mischief and genuine interest "Do you know what the pass code means Shay?"

I put on my mask and shake my head. "No, just an odd password is all," I respond as we round a corner and find the correct room. Tara grabs the handle and twists, entering the nearly black room and leads me in, I close the bedroom door behind me as Tara pulls open the closet door. A holographic keypad hovers over the light that creates it and Tara types the code in and waits.

The gray back of the closet splits down the center then the pieces are pulled away to reveal a small set of metal stairs leading down in a spiral pattern down to a prison cell like room with high tech laser grids to keep the prisoners, or my team, inside their cages. One step or limps to attempt to cross the grid and their hand of whatever the grid touches will be fried of.

Nathan is in the first cage on the left side of the room, Ciara across from him on the right, then Tarben, and across from him on the same side as Ciara is Bryan. Glancing over the red intertwining beams I look to Tara who's already standing at the breaker box for the room.

"Do you think you can—?"

"Not a problem," Tara cuts me off, winking my way before messing around with the box. It takes only a second for her to disable to security grid, the grin on her face means that her egos been inflated for the day and I'll have to hear all about how great she is. If pills actually helped me then I'd be all for swiping some sleep pills but unfortunately medicine doesn't work on me.

"Thanks for getting us out of there, I have a kink in my neck from the uncomfortable positions I had to lay in just to stretch out my bones," Ciara says, pulling her light brown hair from its pony tail and letting it free fall in straight strands.

Nathan steps over to me along with Tarben and Bryan who all look relieved to see me. "Lets get out of here, you were right about the _Avengers_," Nate growls out their group name with as much acid as he can. "Allowing Nick Fury to do whatever he wanted, imagine what they would do if they knew who we really are, there's no way they'd be on board with the Save the Children Foundation."

Without another word I turn and head up the staircase everyone following me without a word. I think it's best that we take the stairs seeing as the Avengers would never possibly conclude to six teenagers running and climbing up stairs. We'll have to go to the main room despite how awful that place has been for us, it's the only place to have total access to all the floors in the tower.

While this may not seem like the most logical plan but the craziest plan may be the most likely to work, I'm not longer working against HYDRA agents who know nothing about me, I'm trying to plan against the person where I get all my planning strategies and planning from and he's a million times better at it than I so thinking outside the box is something I need to try.

Everyone with the exception of Nathan and me are gasping for air by the time we reach the finally floor, the door just ahead of us will lead to the living quarters of the tower and the elevator should be right beside the door. We need to make one quick entry because not camera's are in the stairwell but I know for sure that there are at least ten in the living area.

"Ready?" I ask, they all nod and I open the door only to see all the Avengers and Nick Fury himself all standing casually across from the couch as though they've been waiting awhile for out arrival. I've been outsmarted and I don't like it, not one little bit. A scowl falls across my face and even under the hood of the hoodie, I'm sure they can see it.

"Take a seat," Fury says, his tone strained like he wanted to avoid this. "The Avengers have a few things they'd like to ask all of you."

* * *

_**A/N: So I know I don't put authors notes down below on this story but I also want to know what you thought about Tara's POV was she differentiated enough from Shay so you could tell who's who because I will always state whose POV it is but I need to make sure their POVS are really different from each other. So please let me know below!**_


	16. Mirror Mirror on the Wall

_Chapter Sixteen: Mirror Mirror On the Wall_

**_Okay, so here's the next chapter and this is the one you all have be dying for, when everyone will all be around each other and a lot of information will come out. Be sure to follow, favorite, and leave me comments on what you think and wow, this is really the big chapter I've been prolonging, funny it's only two chapters short of the original reveal of Panic's secret, anyways read on_**

* * *

Hours tick by as the endless silence progresses and the Avengers sit, or stand, across from us where the other couch resides. Nick Fury sits diagonal to us in a black leather sitting chair. He looks restless, almost as if this waiting period is tinkering away at his ever so rapidly deteriorating patience that he's reformed many time over to keep calm in intense situations.

I'm sure that they'll crack before my crew and I do, so we keep out head and gaze directed towards the ground, refusing to look up at them or look them in the eyes but that doesn't stop their gazes from burning at us. We hold all the information close to us and give nothing away, we cannot afford the luxury to give into trust when we can't be sure it'll pay off.

"Nick Fury sir, how about you explain what's going on since it can be concluded that these kids will not be saying anything," Steve Rogers speaks, I keep my gaze at the floor, my hood still hiding my face from sight. I hear the deep seated sigh escape from Fury before he clears his throat.

"There was a project, S.H.I.E.L.D. was the main backer of this project. It was called **Project: Last Resort **and it was never meant to get out, these, children as you called them, were apart of it. It's incredibly complicated and complex but I'd never planned to release the information to you, or anyone else for that matter it was a just in case measure."

He pauses, as if thinking about what he would say next. "Agent Hill knows about this project and Agent Coulson _knew_..." I snort. Even without looking up I can feel all their eyes shift to me.

"Something funny you'd like to explain, Grim Reaper?" Tony Stark asks me, the glimmering trace of sarcasm that is ever present in Tara's tone is even more vibrant in his which isn't surprising in the least.

"Well, it's about as funny as your visits to the local clinic for all you STD treatments," Tara shot back, I can practically sense the smirk in her tone, I have to bite back one of my own.

"Everyone thinks their a comedian, perhaps if you spent less of your time as a convict and more time perfecting you one-liners you may just have a career in comedy," Stark replies, almost instantly.

"Oh, I'm trying to feel hurt but... I'm too busy imagining you with an actual personality."

"Well clearly you would be imagining a personality considering you don't have one but in the meantime, I'm free to come and go as I please whereas you may as well be in shackles."

"Sweet burn, does it remind you of the days where woman actually wanted you, I feel bad for Pepper she could do so much better. Honestly, I think she's settling," I can feel Tara shrug her shoulders non-nonchalantly beside me.

"Enough!" Steve snaps, the room going silent almost immediately, Tara must have struck a nerve. "Fury, you may continue."

"Throughout the years the Earth has encountered many issues far to dangerous for us to take care of so, that is why this project was enacted. Six children brought together, each one special in their own particular ways. Each of them have different DNA and different skills sites on the off chance that something happened when we gathered a team."

The silence drags on, not a word is said but I can head everyone's breathing as if their hanging on his very words, like it's the answer to the meaning of life. My world will be in shambles, again. It'll all come out and everyone will know, I will not longer be able to hide in the shadows left behind by the fall of S.H.I.E.L.D., originally left. Here's the end...

"Wait, wait, wait..." Stark speaks, his voice higher, disbelief filling each word. "Y-you, t-they, and-and you never thought that maybe, just maybe, we should have a say in this. What the hell is wrong with you, how did you even...!?"

"Calm down Tony, what's wrong," Steve speaks up.

"You don't understand what he just said, I doubt Thor does either but everyone else is fully aware, don't you get it Cap. Cloning is a big factor in all of this, so S.H.I.E.L.D. before the whole Helicarrier fiasco, apparently they cloned us and never bothered to say a word even after loosing track of them for what was it, ten years!? "

"Wait, cloned us?" Steve says, disbelief and shock overtaking his tone as well.

"It makes sense how you got Barton and my DNA Fury but how did you manage the rest?" Natasha Romanoff speaks for the first time, her voice still calm and emotionless as if she didn't just find out one of the most insane things ever.

"There's still a lot of things that S.H.I.E.L.D. had left hidden, most of the higher level agents didn't even know about this projects, I only brought in those I trusted and seeing as the nature of this, it didn't seem right to include the both of you in the projects as you'd be... biased on the circumstances considering. Needless to say, I was tipped off by a warehouse explosion," Fury finishes.

My hands start shaking at my side and my heart pounds in my chest, suddenly it gets hard to breath. It feels like the oxygen has evaporated from the room and I can't breathe. Panic erupts in my mind as I try to calm myself down until I feel someone's hand wrap around mine, Tara. She give my hand a reassuring squeeze and slowly the oxygen returns and I take a slow breath, trying to get my shaking hands under control.

Tilting my head I glance over at Tara who's looking over at me, a smile on her lips. I mouth a 'thank you' to her for helping to calm me down, she's always helped me when it comes to these... incidents. No one else in my group seems to notice when they happen but Tara does and she keeps silent, never says a word to anyone but always has my back.

"So," Stark says after a moment of silence for them to, I guess, absorb the information provided. "These are the kids you cloned..."

I wearily grin to myself before speaking in monotone. "Oh trust me, that isn't the craziest thing in the world. I can list about a million things much crazier than that, in fact Fury could probably list a few of his own, isn't that right? Why don't you tell them about T.A.H.I.T.I.?"

"What's with the hood? Not like there's a lot left to hide for," Stark comments, reaching for the hood.

"Back away before I decide that your arm would be better in multiple pieces..." I growl out through gritted teeth.

He scoffs in amusement, as though I'm not a dangerous. "Is that a threat?"

I sneer at him. "No. It's a promise, one that I can back up. You don't know everything Stark, not one things and while what Fury told you may be true, there's still much more that I have over his head and information that you crave. You want to know who I am, is the mystery eating away at you. Well, I'm your best source for information," rising to my feet I reach for the hood.

Flipping back the hood I shake my head, letting my blond hair fall free and strip out of the jacket, tossing is precariously over the back of the couch. They all stare at me, obviously comparing my similarities to their oh so great leader.

"What's wrong, you look like you've seen a ghost. Sorry Tara, looks like I stole your thunder for the evening," I glance her way, winking at her with a smile on my face and she grins back mischief reflecting back in her eyes.

"It must have been awful," I start, glancing from Steve Rogers who looks pale like a ghost, the to the rest of the Avengers who all seem to distrust me. I don't blame them for it, I don't trust them either. "Finding out that, Phil Coulson, such a dear friend and well known man was... killed at the hands of Loki but what you don't know is the story after the tragedy."

I give a humorless laugh before continuing. "Why don't you tell them Fury, tell them that Phil Coulson is very much alive..."

"Wait," Stark looks from me, eyes wide and rabid, to Fury. "W-what the hell is she talking about. Is what she, whoever the hell she is, said true? Coulson's alive and you never bothered to mention it?! And this is why I don't trust spies Captain."

Glancing at my crew I notice they've all raised their gaze to me, surprised by what I've said and about what has occurred, our cover is blown open and now I have no idea what to do.

"Back to the cells again..." Tara chirps, leaning back on the couch, propping her legs up on the coffee table. Tony Stark looks over at her, no longer seeing her as the girl who challenge his sarcasm but noticing certain aspects of her that they share, her hair, eyes, smirk, demeanor.

"You're my clone...?" he says slowly.

"Damn, someone get this guy a metal he really deserves it," Tara over exaggerates clapping as if she were at the VMA's. "Like I'm surprised that it took you that long to piece it together super sleuth, I thought you were supposed to be a genius."

"Well, that gene wan't passed to you," Nathan comments. Tara leans across the couch and smacks him on the arm but he only shrugs his shoulders in response.

Fury runs a hand over his face. "That wasn't supposed to be released to the public Shaylene."

"And neither was my team and I, their safety," I step towards him and the Avengers each step forward as if I could do any sort of harm from this far away. "Is my first priority and I found them locked away in cells in a guest room in room 201 where a secret prison seems to be!"

Tony looks over at Fury. "You put a prison in my tower, dammit JARVIS, why don't I know about any of this!?" he glares up at the ceiling.

"He won't be answering," Tara bites her lip, pretending to look guilty. "He's under my control and has been since our break in."

Just as he's about to say something Steve Rogers holds up a hand to silence him while I bite back a scowl threatening to emerge. He looks uncomfortable, like he can't fathom what has just been announced. Boohoo, this isn't the most shocking thing he's ever been through. I roll my eyes as soon as I hear him speak, unable to stop myself but he doesn't seem to notice.

"No one is going to be locked in a cell but none of you aren't leaving. Tony, can you give them the floor below us so we can make sure they're close while we figure this all out. As for them," he glance over to my crew and I then back at the rest of the Avengers. "They'll stay locked on that floor so at least they won't be total prisoners while we sort through everything."

"Or," I cut in. "You could just let us go, we have no intention take over the world or anything so you don't have to worry. We' be more than happy to go back under the radar where you can go back to pretending you never saw us, it'll be the best for everyone."

Steve Rogers looks over at me. "That would make things better for you but not for us, we'd still be thinking about this and it's better if you're all here for us to discuss this with. You and everyone else will be held on floor 6 and we'll discuss what we're going to do next and then we'll come discuss it with you but until then, Tony would escort our guests to their quarters."

"Yeah, sure" Tony says, and we all follow him through the living room and into the elevator, none of us saying a single word as the door closes. This is bad, bad, bad, very, very bad. See this is what I was afraid of and now there's no where to run and no place to hide, the unknown is the worst of it all and there's no way this will end well for us.

We need to find a way out and fast before there really isn't any time left to plan. I don't think I can stand to be in the same room as Captain America for another minute without pulling my hair out.


	17. Shattered Illusions

_ Chapter Seventeen: Shattered Illusions_

**_There we go, last time some of the bigger secrets came out,the Avengers learned who Shaylene and her crew really are but there's still a lot they don't know about Shay and the group just like they don't know their 'parents' intentions. There a whole hell of a lot of secrets to be passed around. As always be sure to follow, favorite, and comment._**

* * *

My hands quiver against my thighs as I rest my forehead against my knees, suck in air like a hoover vacuum. Everything's numb, my nerves shot, and now I'm literally gasping at straws. All I want to do is run around in circles like a confused beagle chasing its own tail while falling out in a pit of dizziness due to not realizing his important chase was as meaningless as my drive to keep Nick Fury silent.

An almost endless silence sweeps across the room and has maintained it's control over drawing out all the life and energy in the room, or perhaps it's just me whose behind the dully slow energy decay. It feels as though the warehouse is some sort of ancient and distant memory from some other life when it was not nearly as long ago as it feel.

They know!

Out of all the things that could instead persistently haunt or hang around my thoughts like a prom dress or what to wear to school but I am instead burdened with the grim reality that it's all my fault, I failed them. It's my responsibility to keep them safe yet I brought them here, to face the Avengers scrutiny and judgement and it's on my head, again.

Numbers, names, and secret organizations such as: S.H.I.E.L.D., HYDRA, the S.S.R., U.N.I.T.E.D., what's even is the point anymore? It's all a doomsday disaster waiting to happen but still people think they are the holy ones who are deemed capable of deciding what should and should not be revealed to the public and still manipulates the outcome of events.

I can't fight them forever but I sure can try.

"Shay..." the tone of her voice, so soft and empty, is enough to draw me out of my personal prison. Straightening my back I glance upwards at the usually calm, charismatic Tara. Her teeth dig into her plump bottom lip as she rubs her hands together in a clearly nervous way. With still trembling hands I clasp her wrist and lightly tug her gets the hit and sits down on the couch beside me as the rest of my crew seems to move in closer.

"We're going to be just fine Tara, I promise on my life that I'll keep you," I pause a moment, glancing around at all the friendly, familiar faces of my friends, no, my family. "All of you safe, it's a promise I made ten years ago, and it's a promise I've made everyday since then and today is no different."

"If we're here what are we gonna do about the numbers?" Nathan speaks up from the cushioned chair he sit on, while one would typically assume that he's relaxed but I can tell that that he's ready to bolt up and spring into action in a second if he needs to.

"You know what they say," I tap my nose twice, indicating the small, circular camera in the room's back right corner to Tara and everyone else. "Loose lips sink ships, best to watch the playground while the adults go about their business, much less stress when staying out of ones way," I glance them both over seeing if they understood what I was implying.

"You suggest we cower in the shadows on the other side of the tracks rather than revel in the cinders of what once was?" Nathan responds, eyebrow raised as he begins piecing my plan together.

Slowly I nod, a faint trace of a smile evident on my lips. "While you all may think I live by the book, sometimes I like to take the shortcuts through the muddy underground ditches. We'll find out what happened at... The place and what _they_ are doing. Obviously they're up to no good."

* * *

**Third Person POV:**

Tension was as thick as ice, so think in fact that if someone were to pull a knife across it, it would most indefinitely shatter into a thousand pieces and suffocate them all in the sheer weight and intensity of it. It was as if someone came in and while before was living plants on the windows sills and wind gushed through the open door but now someone entered and sucked all the life from the room.

All of the earth's mightiest heroes were sprawled across the couch as well as any other available spot.

Not only were they cloned but they didn't get them at the lovey-dovey age when they loved and looked up to their parental figure, no, they get them at the hardest time in any parents life, the rebellious teenage years when they want nothing to do with parents. On top of them being teenagers, they also probably inherited certain skills from who they're DNA comes from.

Tony Stark has taken the news much worse than the other.

After a life of casual hookups, pass-out-drunk escapades, and one-night stands he'd managed to avoid the serious consequences that come along with a life full of casual sex such as unplanned pregnancy or STD, but now has found out that he has teenage daughter, a clone, against his free will. His biggest fear is being a parent and while she may not technically be his 'kid' as she is actually a clone he can't help but still feel anxious.

He never really had much of a Dad, his mother was the primary provider of love and affection in his life and because of that he always avoided the conversation of children with Pepper, and while he loved her and would only ever explore the possibility of children with her, he still never thought he would be convinced. Tony didn't want to be like his father, cold, calculating, and distant.

Knowing what it's like to have a father always at arms length made Tony question himself for a longtime, even in his twenties when the one-night stands became much more frequent people wouldn't ever expect Tony Stark to have thought about children. He had, many times but never in the serious context because he never believed he could be that type of support system.

A child needed stability and constant care and affection and he was never sure he could be all the things a child would need and that's yet another piece of icing on the already crumbling cake. Pepper was the first woman he's ever really committed to, not to say he's cheated because that's something else entirely, but he's never been with the same woman long enough for anything like that.

Pepper would be the only woman who, if they ever decided, would bare him a child as she's the only one he loves and trusts enough. Pepper would never use her 'imaginary' child as a pawn to get money from him, that he knew. Even if they broke up with he found highly unlikely and despite the media's claims he was determined to make this relationship work.

Not just for the press, or for Pepper, but for himself as well.

While it seems all the Avengers are lost in thought, which most of them are, Natasha Romanoff seems to be much more focused on the brighter sides of this odd, and somewhat inhuman situation. After all the test and experiments that occurred when she was put in the Black Window Program in the Red Room, they prevented her from ever having a child.

It wasn't as if she didn't see the negatives in this situation but she, like any woman, has thought about children even though she knew she couldn't have one of her own but with this clone, she could. Natasha doesn't know anything about being a parent but she supposes she could learn if it means understanding this clone a bit better and it isn't like it's their fault for being created.

Why should they be blamed when it was others who screwed around the science and the natural order of reproduction and DNA to create them, they didn't have a choice to be created. The blame should fall to Nick Fury and everyone else involved, they who should know better and it seems, based on what Shaylene said, that they did the same thing to Coulson.

"Sorry to break this long winded silence but maybe we should see what... They're doing," Natasha speaks, glancing up from the legs of the bar chair she's currently perched precariously on. Her eyes sweep the room, Stark, Thor, and Banner all sit on the the black leather cushioned couch while Steve stands in the rooms center, lost in thought, and Barton on the marble counter top beside her.

A minute passes before everyone seems to clue in that she spoke at all, one by one each head turn to face her. All their expressions telling her to repeat what she had just recently said because clearly they weren't listening the first time around.

Natasha clears her throat. "I said that we should probably pull the up the camera's video feed and see how they're doing, especially now that Tony has got JARVIS back under his control."

"To which I am incredibly grateful, it was awful being unable to say anything, I can pull up the footage onto the big screen if that's what you would like," the robotic British disembodied voice of the AI chimes in.

"Pull it up JARVIS," Tony responds, his voice void of it's usual bounce and laid-back manner and based upon this he must still be in a heavy state of shock and freaking out on the inside. The TV screen flashes on to reveal bright blonde hair falling over Shaylene's shoulder, her side is to the camera, Tara is directly beside her on the couch, Nathan sits immobile in a lone sitting chair, hands between his legs, dark, distant green eye aimed up at Shaylene.

"And what happens if they come back...?" Ciara speaks, her brown hair falling just past her chin, she leans back against the plain white walls, arms crossed over her chest as if in thought.

"We'll have to stop them," Shaylene responds almost instantly, her right leg bouncing in a frantic motion, like she's trying to piece together a complex puzzle that only she and her team can seem to see. An intricate map of interweaving webs and a language all their own that only the six of them understand due to many years of being together.

"And the machine? We have no idea what that does," Nathan replies, running a hand through his auburn red hair. "If they have control over some dangerous device that does god only knows what, how can we possibly sit here and pretend that—"

Shaylene whips her head to face him. "We do that because right now we don't have a choice, the numbers bother me too but the camera right there is currently reporting everything we're saying, do you think they actually bought it?"

"Absolutely, they're nitwits. Probably after they heard the other stuff they probably thought we actually knew stuff like when you tricked the moron into thinking Phil Coulson's alive, they all seriously bought it," Tara breaks out into hysterical laughter, falling back against the couch cushions. While the Avengers were unsure as to what they should make of this conversation, they all agreed on one thing.

These children are smart, cleaver, and incredibly cunning. It's impossible to directly tell when or if they're lying without having them hooked to a lie detector test but after years of keeping secrets it isn't all that surprising. While the Avengers are stuck in a rut to deal with the complexity of these vibrant yet brilliant children who could possibly match them on all intellectual fronts, not that Tony Stark would dare admit that.

While, on the other side of the TV screen something else was forming in the dark hidden beneath the pretend happiness, conning, and laughter was a plan brewing, boiling over in Shaylene's mind;_ Show absolutely no interesting aspects of your personality and those around will get bored of nothing to gain and leave you alone_, that's how she thought it anyways.

"Turn off the camera's JARVIS..."

"As you wish Sir," the AI obliged and the TV screen flashed back to black but little did they, or even the high-tech intelligence system JARVIS knew that Tara and he mini-laptop was actually behind the camera's going out, not just one, but all the camera's on their floor.

* * *

**Shaylene's POV:**

"Do you think they bought it?" Bryan peeps in after being silent for almost the entirety of the groups discussion session.

"Probably, needless to say the Avengers aren't the sharpest tools in the shed, they're more like the bad kids in school that you give the coloring book to to keep them busy while you teach the intelligent portion of the class the alphabet," Tara chirps, her hands resting under her head to prop herself up.

"They don't have a clue as to what's really going on." A cunning smirk glides across my face as I finish my one-liner. "Checkmate, they loose."


	18. A Shadowy Awakening

_Chapter Eighteen: A Shadowy Awakening_

**_Here we go again, another chapter for this amazing, it took me like almost a week to come up with the chapter title, it was insane but here it is and if I didn't mention it my A/N then no one would ever know so... yeah. Anyways, as always, follow, favorite, and make sure to leave comments and questions that you have below and I might just answer them!_**

* * *

The clock on the front wall beside the plasma screen TV ticks loudly like everyone who lives in this tower is so deaf that the noise of the clock has to be raised ten octaves higher than any other time teller in the whole entire world. For the last five hours I've sat on the cloth couch in the living room of this floor, watching the clock as the hours slowly ticks by.

Five hours have wasted away in my duration period of sitting motionless on the couch. My crew went to bed at ten o'clock and now it's just past three in the morning and I'm still wide awake, even the thought of falling asleep in this tower is cringe worthy. Instincts will prevent me from closing my eyelids so why bother trying and besides, I need to be awake and on guard at all times.

Right now the Avengers hold almost all the cards in their hands and whatever they will impact us worse than it will them so for now my crew and I need to stay in their good graces, which we've already failed at. We're screwed, my only hope would be subtly distractions to keep their attention as far from us as possible, like mentioning Project T.A.H.I.T.I., or reveal that I just lied about Phil Coulson not really being alive, HYDRA's sketchy actions as of late, and countless other things.

Glancing away from the clock I look over and see a medium sized mirror, my reflection staring back... bright blue eyes. Blond hair yet still just some copy, a freak of nature... An experiment of curious and ill-thinking people who decided DNA manipulation and cloning would be a good idea,

As my reflection falters slightly, wobbles, and slowly begins to disorient itself, I tear my gaze away from the mirror just in time to keep myself in control, but not fast enough to stop a faint, and nearly locked away memory from resurfacing while I try to push the memory back down into the dark recesses of my mind along with the rest of the memories I wish to forget.

_Four white concrete walls border me, block me inside like a prisoner. Posters, flyers, and newspaper articles all revolving around Captain America are handing __throughout the room. A white blanketed bed is pushed back in the far left of the room against the freezing cold walls. I can do it, he said so, they all seem to believe me but then I see their doubt._

_The faint flicker of intense misgivings, they look down upon me, no scorn me as though I'm not worth the trouble, like I don't deserve to breathe the same air as their high and mighty because I'm a girl because I'm 'weaker' more 'fragile' than if I would have ended up being a boy. A boy like they wanted, one who could be a soldier and I was the worthless accident they wanted to avoid._

_How dare they look down upon me because of my gender._

The scene changes of the four-wall room shifts before my very eyes. _The bed pieces tossed across the room, loud, anger-fueled screaming fill in as the background noise. Ripped sheets of poster and newspaper from the walls flutter across the floor of the room, littering it with small pieces of torn paper. It's then that I realize, I'm the one screaming, and after what happened, I have every right to be..._

Shaking my head, I finally get a lid on Pandora's Box which happily closes off the rest of my memories and locks away the feeling from that lifetime ago threatening to emerge. Getting up from the couch, I make my way across the room and remove the mirror from the wall and stuff it away in broom closest or any place out of sight really.

I proceed to do that to any remaining mirror that I find and am able to dispose of, with the only exception being the large mirror in the bathroom just over the sink to allow woman to do their hair and makeup. That be a blessing if I only had to worry about what my hair looked like and how all the boys will react if it was done up nice while in revealing clothes.

At the chiming of an elevator, my head darts upward towards where the sound came from and listen to the footsteps that agree quickly approaching and while the Avengers took almost all our weapons, I still have a dagger in my shoes. Reaching subtly for it I free the blade and hold it up in defense as I step towards where the noise came from

HYDRA wouldn't be dumb enough to come after us now that JARVIS is back online and with the Avengers being aware of out existence would they?

Just as the person rounds the corner I swing my arm forward, blade aimed accordingly. He catches my wrist and I glance up to see none other than the last person that I want to see, Captain America himself.

"I thought we relieved you of all your weapons," he says after a moment of silence, glancing at the knife in my grip. His blond hair is messy, disheveled as though he just woke up in a gray T-shirt and plaid blue pajama pants.

Pulling my arm back he reluctantly releases my wrist but stays in a somewhat defensive stance as if preparing for me to attack. Rolling my eyes I push past him before falling back on the couch cushion.

"What do you want Captain?" I reply, keeping both my tone and face neutral. Give him or anyone else any reason to be curious about our motives, keep the mystery raveled up like a rubber band ball on the most extreme level, the less loose ends that I have will keeps me and my crew protected.

"Shouldn't I be the one asking that or at the very least, something similar to that?" he responds almost instantly, sitting down on the other end of the couch, still to close for my comfort. I move even farther away from him. Distance, I need separation from him or I'll loose it, go insane because I don't want him near me. I don't want him digging around in what should be left alone.

"Ask all you'd like, you and your team can keep my crew and I trapped here in this tower but that doesn't mean we'll tell you anything, not one thing, it'll be better if you dropped the topic all together, save yourselves the trouble..." I trail off, gaze fixated on the ground as though it's the most important thing in the room.

"That's not going to happen, you should probably quit trying, but the real reason I'm here is because Natasha dug through her closet and found a few things for you to change into instead of staying in your bloodied clothes, I set the stuff of the kitchen counter. How long have you been up?"

A humorless snort escapes me. "For that question to be accurate, that would imply that I went to sleep."

He says nothing, just stares at me like it's some odd occurrence that I haven't gone to sleep in a new location without any knowledge of what lies in the future for me and my team. It's logical that at least one of the six of us would remain awake during the duration of the night. Silence stretches on in an endless loop until I can't take it anymore.

Getting up off the couch I enter the kitchen and dig through the ivory fridge, planning out what I'll make for breakfast before my crew wakes up from their slumber, even so, I don't hear any movement from the couch I just abandoned in my haste for every more distance between the both of us. "I wouldn't be offended if you make like the breeze and leave."

"Actually, I am not required to do anything. We'll be meeting with you and the rest of your group tomorrow afternoon around one and everything will be sorted through so I figured it would be best to let you know, Thor will be your escort," with that I hear footsteps, the elevator, and the closing of the door.

Things are incredibly tense and I have no idea what to feel right now.

What to say.

_Stay away, keep your mouth shut..._

That's all the advice my brain can muster up to advise me, thank you so much my incredibly helpful and not at all annoying brain!

My head drops into my hands as I still try to formulate a plan but all I can think about are those numbers on Fury's pass code to the cells, 1-05, how did he know and if he did, why was it missing from where the information should be recorded? He still has that over me, and a few other things that I'm trying to forget and while Nick Fury knows a few things about my past, he knows next to nothing.

* * *

**Third Person POV (Location: Unknown):**

_HYDRA agents file inside the base in formation, separate from the remaining agents, six men dressed in traditional black uniforms, each of them supporting the device they were sent to retrieve from Avengers Tower, a machine created by Tony Stark himself. Luckily after their skirmish with the clones of the heroes they still were able to accomplish the mission at hand, they'll live to fight another day._

_"Set the device over there on the control pad until it's been wired and tested," a man standing back in shadows orders the agents, pointing in the direction of the dull grey placement pad. Nodding they obey their commanding officer and start towards the pad and set the machine down on the round black base to support the shiny metallic ball in the bases center._

_Wolfgang Van Strucker steps out of the shadows and watches as the agents place the device where he ordered and, without even being told, begin setting the device up so that it's ready for testing immediately. He will be pleased when Wolfgang delivers the news about their small success which, to the children encountered will have no idea of._

_To them it'll appear that they simply wanted a lone device for some childish mission but they don't understand, 'cut off one head, and two more shall take it's place.'_

_Turning back to the men setting up the devices, he calls to them . "I shall be in my office on an important call, do not disturb me, I will return once my call is complete, until then keep working."_

_Wolfgang looks straight ahead, striding towards a closed door with a plaque with the word CONFIDENTIAL written in white, bold, capital letters. The door shuts nearly slightly behind him as he finally reaches for a sleek black spin dial phone. He spins the dials and waits until the phone is picked up before speaking a single word._

_"The mission was a success, they have no idea... Children? Don't worry about them, after they encountered the blood bank agents, they are in doubt but have enough problems as it is, the Avengers know about them."_

_A muffled response sounds through the phone speaker but Wolfgang Von Strucker understands exactly what the person on the other end of the line said as he responds when the muffled man is finished speaking._

_"You're absolutely right, they'll never suspect a thing and with him on our side, we're sure to win. They got the DNA and we'll begin testing immediately..."_

_Muffle responds, words still incomprehensible._

_"See you soon, Hail HYDRA," Wolfgang responds, setting the phone back down on the receiver. "The water's is about to come to a boil..."_


	19. Stained Glass Windows

_Chapter Nineteen: Stained Glass Windows_

**_Here it is again, the next chapter, wow, I say that a lot in these authors notes, oh well, last time Shay 'spoke' to Steve and the chapter ended with a mysterious phone call to someone. So, who do you think he was talking to and what is this grand plan HYDRA appears to be working on, I wanna hear your theories. As always, favorite, follow, and comment on this story!_**

* * *

We've each been taken to a different room for discussing the topic at hand with our _'parents'_ instead of using the actual term for what this really is, an interrogation. This isn't a lets get to know each other party, no, this is a tell everything you know, sort of event. Before we were summoned to the main floor by Thor himself, I discussed what was happening and came up with a clever story.

Answers to just about any possible question they may ask and if they ask something we never covered, lie as close to the truth to make it convincing. I also told them to try to get them to tell them what the machine stolen from the basement was. As far as I know, none of them know that it's missing so we may still be able to figure everything out before they notice.

I sit on a couch in the towers living room, leaning back against the cushions while Captain America stands across from me, eyes focused on me and nothing else. Guess a distraction won't help me.

"Full name?" he says after a moment of silence.

"Shaylene Griselda."

He begins pacing back and forth as the questions begin to roll more smoothly. "Age?"

"Seventeen."

That's what stops him mid-pace as he turns to me. Probably confused considering everyone else in my group is sixteen.

"I'm older..." I say, mocking confidence I often see in Tara. With a slight shake of the head, he continues his consistent pacing like he'd rather run, run far away from the tower and all of us. Well go then because you're not the only one. I want to run away from this tower and get away from everyone for once, I'm just so tired what with U.N.I.T.E.D., HYDRA, and the Avengers.

I'm gonna snap.

It'll happen soon, I can feel it building...

"Where have you been staying for all these years?"

I pause while I think it over. "Moved from place to place, that's life when you're on the run from the oh-so-amazing S.H.I.E.L.D."

"When S.H.I.E.L.D. went down, how come you remained hidden?"

"We decided to live in the shadows that S.H.I.E.L.D.'s crumble left behind because we felt it best for our own personal well-being and besides, Nick Fury would never lets us go and he never did," I pause. "I have a question..."

"Shoot," he replies, sitting down on the couch closer to him.

"When I was in the basement, I saw something, a device with the Stark Logo and it's been bugging me, what does it do exactly. It will really put my mind at ease and besides, it's not like I'll have any access to it or the basement," I say, to back up what I'm saying.

He purses his lips a moment before deciding to just tell me. "It's reanimates things."

Everything comes to a grinding halt. My heart seems to stop in my chest. Fear and terror seems to rattle up my spine, reanimation but if they... HYDRA has the device and... Oh no!

"What is it?" Steve asks, as if he can practically see I'm in a train of thought.

Shaking my head to push all the thoughts away, for now at least. He can't know anything is up and if he can see when I'm in deep thought then that's bad, I have to play it off, pretend I only thought about how hard or difficult that would be. I have to pretend to be an oblivious teenage girl who doesn't think about secret agencies and things of the sort.

"That would be so hard to create, anyways, continue your questions."

Obviously he doesn't believe me by his raised eyebrow and the skepticism in his face but he doesn't press the issue and instead continues on with all the questions he's been meaning to ask. I answer then with some truth embedded in the lies but play it off like the truth, it's sounds accurate. Eventually he, and every other Avengers leave, sending us back to our floor.

The tell us they'll be in contact soon.

Pulling my group close together we all seem to know the same thing as me. "If that machine really does that and... You know has the other stuff from when we were at the place then they could..." Tara says, brown eyes focusing in on me.

"If they have multiple traces of different stuff then they could, merge them together to..." I trail off, allowing them to finish my sentence.

"Create something entirely new..."

"What are we going to do about it Shay, we're trapped here," Nathan chimes in, running a hand through his hair.

"I don't know," I reply honestly.

* * *

**Third Person POV:**

"They're hiding a lot of things from us," Natasha says after Tony turns off the video feed from the elevator. She's sitting on the couch beside Clint as they all try to figure out the best thing to do.

"We need to gain their trust before they ever tell us anything. All of them lied together as a team in our interrogations even when they aren't in the same room. They work like a team and trust each other and with their experience with Fury, it's understandable why they don't trust us," Clint speaks, leaning an arm over the back of the couch.

"How are we supposed to do that Cupid? We can't trust them either," Tony snidely pipes in. "The only way we could would be if... I got! Lock all doors and windows and protect all the control panels and rooms and allow them free reign of the building."

"How is that a good idea Tony?" Bruce asks, an eyebrow raised.

"Think about it, would you trust people who have you locked away on a single floor? No, if we make sure they can't get out of the tower or into the control room or the panels we'll be in close proximity to them. Getting to know them better, and perhaps gaining their trust, duh!"

"Stark might actually have a point with this," Natasha says, motioning to him with her index finger. "Right now they feel like prisoners and we know nothing about them aside from the obvious. If we show them we're not like Fury then they'll start trusting us more. If we're close to them on a daily basis then they'll lower their guards and be more open."

"So we're agreed then?" Steve asks his fellow teammates, as they all nod in unison. "Then Tony will need to set everything up to keep them out of the places they aren't supposed to be."

"I'll get right on it," he replies. "Come on Banner, let's get this set up because the sooner we do then I can finally get back to work on my new armor."

The two of them scatter back the way they all came into the living room on the main floor while the other four sit in a silence that can only be described as tense.

"Does anyone else feel their interactions with us are... precautionary?" Clint comments, looking at each of them in the room. "For example they seem guarded, like they're afraid of us of something. Not necessarily secretive, which they are, but like they're afraid of what we might do."

"Can we honestly blame them?" Thor asks, his blond hair tucked back behind his ears.

"Thor's and Barton's got a point Cap, they don't know what to expect from us so they hold all their defenses up, especially Shay. She and Nathan and the only two I can't see through, they're incredibly guarded. Shaylene in particular. Nathan is guarded by logical issues like any spy but she's guarded by emotions, ones that she's wants to forget."

All of them turn to look at Natasha after her analysis is stated, Steve more interested then the rest. "I don't know what but something, something bad must have happened to her and she uses it to protect herself. It's like a one-way mirror, she can see everything and we can only see our reflections."

"The rest of them are pretty clear cut, Tara uses the same tactics that Stark uses, sarcasm, one-liners, and distractions to avoid the topic at hand. Bryan uses math and science to keep everyone around busy. Tarben uses brute strength rather than thinking logically, and Ciara uses an emotionless expression to hide her thoughts and emotions. They're us..." she finishes.

* * *

**Shaylene's POV:**

I had Tara take out all the sound on the camera's and any sound bugs they planted, we need to be able to talk without all the codes but the camera will still allow them to read our lips so we sit huddled up together to keep them from reading what we say. If HYDRA really is planning on using the devices Stark made to reanimate someone, or something then we need to stop them.

HYDRA is incredibly dangerous, especially with that type of unlimited power. At the blood bank we thought the guards we ran into were simply distractions but now that I've had time to think it over, I know they had to have been. If they were planning on stealing this device from Tony Stark all along then they must have seriously planned this out.

There's no way they would have been so careless as to let us find out about their actual plan. If I were a member or actually a high ranking officer of the evil organization I would have multiple groups for some as distractions while the main group would be someone no one would expect, in fact they might have used that device to transport them in and out with the DNA.

"So the device those HYDRA agents stole reanimate things, what could HYDRA want to reanimate, that's what has me confused," Tarben asks, his blond hair messy and out of place.

"What about the Red Skull, wasn't that the creator of HYDRA?" Ciara asks, looking to each of us.

"No," I shake my head. "It isn't clear what happened to him. He grabbed the tesseract back in the 40's with his bare hands and seemed to be incinerated by the sheer power of it but no one knows for sure if he died of if something else happened to him."

"I have a feeling that what HYDRA is planning is much, much bigger than that. Their plan is to complex for us to complete conclude without having all the facts, besides, we can't even go anywhere to figure it out. We're trapped on this floor in Avengers Tower," Nathan comments, running a hand through his red hair and lets out a long sigh.

Tugging at my hair I sigh. "I feel like we're missing a piece of the puzzle, something so obvious that we can't see. Being in the dark about this is really starting to bug me, it's like I'm standing just far enough away from the obvious that I am unable to see it."


	20. Another Crack in the Foundation

_Chapter Twenty: Another Crack in the Foundation_

**_Finally, made it to the the twenties in the progression of chapters, yay! Anyways be. Be sure to follow, favorite, and comment on this story and in the comments below let me know who your favorite character is. ALSO TARA'S POV! For a little while, tell me if you enjoyed seeing her side of what's going on and I may just write more of her POV_**

* * *

**Tara's POV:**

Captain Stars and Stripes came down to our holding floor this morning in his flashback to the forties attire and basically stated in the most emotionless tone he could muster up, that we'd all be allowed to roam about their fancy ass tower if we act like good little hostages. Okay, so maybe I exaggerated a tad bit, he said we could go anywhere except outside of the tower or the control room.

Fine by me, I hate it outside. All the sunlight to burn my skin, the bees, pollen, and dirt. Now don't get the wrong idea, I'm not some prissy girly girl that is all 'eww dirt' and 'oh my God bugs' but I don't like it outside. Stupid, ignorant people who can't look up from their shitily made iPhone's or using Bluetooth to communicate to their bosses or clients.

Aside from all of those completely justifiable reasons, there's also the never ending trail of constant traffic and horn honking that drives me up a wall. I swear I want to take those annoying people by the back of the neck and slam their face into the nearest windshield and not call 911 to come help them. Unfortunately the Rule Queen, AKA Shay, would never allow it.

That girl could be the next Miss New York for the beauty pageant, if she won that I wouldn't be surprised. I love Shay, she's my best friend and always has my back but she drives me crazy. Lately we've been on the same page, that being stop HYDRA at all costs, but back in the normal side of the spectrum, she's the epitome of all the things in life that annoy me.

Iron Idiot's been side-stepping me all day, it's like I've got some unwanted parasite that he could possible catch but in reality, it's the other way around. There are at least a million different diseases he could carry, especially since his used to have a life consisting of endless trail of one-nighter's with many women who he didn't know at all, like Christine Everhart.

It's not just me that's been having the same avoidance problems but the same thing's going on with the rest of my friends. From what it appears, the Avengers really don't want us like we thought from the start. We're their inconveniences and while I sit here, all alone on the couch in the living room pretending that it doesn't hurt that Tony Stark doesn't want to know me...

Well, it does.

How can he know about me and not want anything to do with me? I've sat around for years imagining what would happen if we met, if he ever found out my existence and it never was like this and it sucks, hurts. I feel weak, vulnerable, and I don't like it. The tears dripping from my eyes also isn't helping, what if this is the way things will always be between the two of us?

I'm just a problem he'll have to deal with, everyone knows Tony Stark irks responsibility and never wanted kids due to his strained relationship with his own father so why am I surprised. I suppose I could be like Shay who downright hates her... predecessor. It's like a raging fire of passion that burns with her immense hatred of him and I don't know why she hates him.

Personally I thinks it's a defense mechanism, one I really wish I had right now. Walls, I need Shay to teach me how to build up walls to hide my feeling and emotions with out using sarcasm and snide remarks. It's an obvious cover that everyone can see through, the Avengers especially due to their close relationship with Tony Stark, they can probably see right through me.

I hate that, I hate being an open book. Like Shay, I like to keep my private stuff private and by being here with these... Superheroes isn't helping and plus with that device in the hands of HYDRA, they can do unimaginable damage if they choose to. They're a dangerous enemy that has to be stopped by any means necessary and Shay has a point about a missing puzzle piece.

Snorting in disgust at my girly, childish behavior I furiously wipe the tears away from my eyes when footsteps glue me to my seat. Don't look up, pretend nothing is wrong, just like Shay always says.

"What do you want?" I ask but my voice cracks and wavers with emotion, damn...

"Are you crying?" my head dart up at the voice. _Him_, what the hell is he doing here? Doesn't he have some robot to build or some machine to tinker with, I don't want him to see me like this, weak, fragile like glass. He'll think so anyways and I'm not, I don't need to be handled with kids gloves. Pity, there will be pity and I hate that more than anything else.

"No," I growl, rising to my feet, my back to him as I wipe furiously at my eyes to hide any evidence of my tears. I know my puffy eyes, tear-stained cheeks, and husky voice will still give me away but it's better than dripping tears. "Go away Stark, don't you have more important things to do with your time, like catching up on the _Housewives of Beverly Hills_."

"Funny..." he dryly responds, I hear his footsteps as her creeps closer. "Really, are you okay...?"

Spinning around like bat out of hell, fury blazes like an inferno. I growl through gritted teeth, using anger to mask the pain and rejection and whatever else I feel behind a wall of meaningless anger. "What do you gain from this?"

He backs up a step, startled by my sudden outburst. He seems to think over what to say. "What the hell is that supposed to mean!? I don't get anything out of this except for you here yelling at me like I've done something wrong!"

"Always the victim, huh Stark. Poor you with a cold, calculating father as you describe him who was never around. You had a mother but still, everything is about you, you're the one who's life hangs in the balance," pitching my voice lower in a mocking tone I emulate him. "_'Life is so hard being rich, I mean what with my million dollar tower, and expensive cars, I mean growing up rich makes being rich now that much more difficult!'_"

* * *

**Shaylene's POV:**

One minute Tara was sitting on the couch alone crying about something, I not quite sure but I could probably guess and then Tony Stark shows up and based on Tara's instant lashing out I can infer that he's what she was thinking about. Leaning against the doorway I watch the battle of words unfold like someone unraveling an ancient scroll.

Tara spins around so fast that anyone else's head word be spinning I can see the faint trace of pain hidden behind the anger displaying in her eyes. She's using anger to hide what she's really feeling. It's her defense mechanism to keep herself from being hurt. "What do you gain from this?"

Tony takes a step back, startled by her sudden outburst. He takes awhile to respond. "What the hell is that supposed to mean!? I don't get anything out of this except for you here yelling at me like I've done something wrong!"

"Always the victim, huh Stark. Poor you with a cold, calculating father as you describe him who was never around. You had a mother but still, everything is about you, you're the one who's life hangs in the balance," Tara lowers her voice a few octaves and exaggerates her tone and begins waving her arms like a dramatic cartoon character. "_'Life is so hard being rich, I mean what with my million dollar tower, and expensive cars, I mean growing up rich make being rich now that much more difficult!'_"

"You know I don't have to sit here and deal with this, I don't owe you anything... And you're not my responsibility!" he yells back and Tara falls deathly silent, that must have stung. That is why I refuse to let any of them get close to me, I only wish I could protect Tara and the rest of my group from it but I can't and they won't listen until they've been burned.

He broke her, her hopes, her dreams, and I'll be here to help pick up the pieces and put her back together. Even right now he doesn't see it, doesn't see the damage but he's unnerved her, that destroyed all the possibilities she dreamed about. Her having a relationship with her 'father' in a sense and he proved to her the point I've been trying to make.

She tries to fight back tears but fail. "You're right..." she says, voice wobbling from the intensity of her emotions. "I'm not your responsibility and how could you ever care about some fucked up S.H.I.E.L.D. clone made without your permission! So sorry that my unwanted existence caused you so many problems but I didn't asked to be created!"

"Tara..." Tony steps forward, suddenly sensing the hurt in her voice, but I enter the room to stop him.

"You can go..." I say, voice void of emotion, strong, authoritative. He glances over at me as though he's going to say that it's none of my business by the cold glare I give him changes his opinion. He turns and walks out of the room while I turn to Tara who has trails of tears spilling down her rose pink cheeks, I step forward and wrap my arms around her.

She at first resists the hug but eventually gives in, wrapping her arms around my waist, resting her head on my shoulder while I look over her head at the doorway where, in the dark I see Captain America himself as though he saw this who thing unfold.

"Y-You were right..." Tara weeps into the black V-neck Natasha Romanoff gave to me. "You were right and I-I didn't listen, we can't trust them. How can he think that of me, I-I know I should have been nicer but— What's wrong with me...!"

"Nothing," I answer automatically. "There is not a single thing wrong with you and anyone who says so is an idiot. You are amazing and smart and funny, don't let anyone, not even Tony Stark bring you down."

"Shay..."

"Yeah?" I ask, shifting so I can look at her.

Pulling back she straightens herself up and give me a solemn look. "We've been best friends for just over ten years and even now, you're still the only person I can honestly trust and have always had my back. I know I'm not very open about my feelings but I want to thank you for being there for me even after all the shit I've put you through."

"Always," I say. "Besides if I wasn't around, who would babysit you, keep you in line, make sure you don't get into trouble, and do good for the world. You'd never do anything if I didn't make you. Now, you should probably go to bed, it's been a long day."

"Fine," she waves her hands. "I'll go but as soon as you can, get me a new green hoodie, I feel bare without it, got it?"

I raise an eyebrow at her. "I'm the one who bought you that hoodie in the first place, of course I will. As soon as I can, considering I bled all over yours."

As she disappears in the elevator I glance over at the Captain himself, his face emotionless likes he's processing what just happened. He saw another side of my personality and I don't like it. I look away and start forward, leaving him in silence.


	21. Fade to Black

_Chapter Twenty-One: Fade to Black_

**_Welcome to the next chapter of The Avengers Kids so I hope the wait was worth it. As always what comment, follow, and favorite and be sure to tell me what you think and who's is your favorite character now. Also, this chapter will have multiple _****_characters POV's so tell me if they're different enough from each other!_**

* * *

**Shaylene's POV:**

This morning Tara seems a bit off, not that I can really blame her. Especially after what Tony Stark said to her last night and don't get me wrong, it's not all his fault because Tara is to blame as well but she seems to be the most affected by what transpired last night. Everyone else seems to be a little off as well, slightly on edge and off guard.

Only I seem to be in complete control and Nathan second to me and Taren in third. They all want to know the Avengers that make up their DNA like Tara and only I know why that's a bad idea. They're all sixteen now and I can't tell them they can't do something, I can only warn or advise against it but they will do what they want to do. While typically they will listen to me, this is a new situation entirely.

As much as I want to protect them, I can't shield them from the real world forever and they know that and so do I and they're bound to get hurt and I have to be there to pick up the pieces when they need me to. I have their backs for ten years and they've had mine for the same amount of time and I suppose they've learned enough to keep themselves safe.

Nathan stands across the room from me and pulls on a dark grey hoodie and walks past me, heading to the elevator. While it's none of my business I still feel the need to ask and so I do.

"What's your plan for today Nate?" I ask, he stops and turns around to face me. His face is emotionless, his red hair tamed and fixed as per usual. Dark green eyes noticing every detail. He gives me a faint smile before he lets it fall away.

"Going to see Natasha Romanoff, for some reason she wants to speak with me, something about getting to know me better. I figure there's no harm in going," he responds, shrugging his shoulders.

My smile falters a bit but I fix it instantly but I know Nathan noticed. "Just..." I trail off.

"I know, I'll be careful Shay," with that he turns and enters the now open elevator and waves a goodbye to me as the doors shut, leaving me alone in silence to contemplate everything transpiring as of late.

* * *

**Nathan's POV:**

The doors to the elevator shut but I keep my thoughts pushed back, now is not the time to contemplate them. Worry is an easy emotion to read as I did when it flashed across Shaylene's face. She is worried about me, and Tara, and the rest of us not that I blame her. She has had this time where she had to keep us all safe from the world and each other and now everything's different.

Like Shay, I do not necessarily trust Natasha Romanoff, or the other Avengers either but I don't plan to keep them at arms length like Shay but when you're a leader like she is, everyone can be perceived as a threat, especially since we're are clones made by Nick Fury. The Avengers had no say in whether or not we were created so it's understandable for her to be on defense.

She has always been that way, even when Nick Fury first introduced her to the five of us all those years ago, and while I'm not proud to admit it but I was not always the nicest to Tara and while to this day she still sometimes annoys me, I regret everything I said and did to her. All of us primarily were mean to Tara and it is an awful truth.

However, Shaylene came along and became her friend, protected her, and put us all in our place and I'm truly grateful for the lessons she taught not just me but all of us. She's a beacon of hope for the world, she's an amazing person who does the right thing not for the glory or recognition but because it's simply the right thing to do.

Shay always pushed us to be better, kinder, to do right in the world. Even if she worked herself sick, even when she stayed up all night and still went to work early the next morning, even when the world seemed to fall in on us, she was always trying to do better. To do what's right and that is what makes her a good role model, she's someone I want to please.

I don't have a thing for her as some people might seem to think. That prospect is disgusting because I don't see her that way, she is one of the closest people to me and the only one I trust enough to tell my innermost thoughts but I never liked her in that type of way. She's like family, no not like, she is family to me and all of us, we'd protect her to the end as she would do for us.

The elevator doors open and when they do Natasha Romanoff stands there, one hand on her hip and the other swinging freely at her side. Her red hair, my hair, falls in messy curls and her face shows no emotions so I make sure mine doesn't either.

"Come, we're going to the training room," she turns and walks away and I follow behind, secretly hoping this goes over well.

* * *

**Ciara's POV:**

_Damn..._

I think when the arrow strikes, not the red bulls eye on the target like I'd aimed for, but instead a blue mat pinned against the wall for combat training to keep the sparing partners safe from hitting the walls. And I'm supposedly the clone of the world's greatest archer!? I couldn't even pass in a high school archery class at this point, the lack of practice in the last few day also has not helped me either.

How can I possibly share DNA with him when I can't aim to save my life, honestly I'm pathetic.

Notching another arrow, I close an eye and aim for the target, patience is key. Don't rush to release because it doesn't always guarantee a direct hit, stay completely focused. And...

"You're not holding the bow right..." a voice chime behind me.

"Agh!" I squeak, fingers releasing the arrow by accident, sending is whizzing through the air like a deadly projectile from a gun, then again it's an arrow and it is dangerous. The wooden arrow collides with the dark, polished concrete wall, shattering into a million pieces. Spinning around I'm about to yell at whoever came up behind me and startled me, only to fall completely silent at who it is I find.

Hawkeye, or Clint Baton, which ever anyone prefers to identify him as. Suddenly my nerves are buzzing on high alert and I can't think of a single thing to say, stupid, stupid, stupid! _And he probably just saw your terrible aim, idiot. _Get a grip Ciara!

"W-what are y-you doing here?" I stutter, cursing mentally at my self for that, while notching another arrow. Leaning back against the railing on the platform overlooking the targets I keep my gaze directed to the floor, wanting to look anywhere but him. I'm such an embarrassment, I mean Tara like Tony is great with technology, Nathan like Natasha is good at spy work.

Tarben like Thor controls electricity and probably the weather as well, Bryan is great at science like Bruce, and Shay is an excellent leader like Steve Rogers and then there's me. I managed a few good shots in the basement but I missed at least five original shots. As I aim the bow and arrow, I feel him shift from behind me to beside me, placing a hand over my left elbow.

Lowering it a bit so that my elbow is level with my face.

"Now try..." he says, leaning back against the railings, watching my every move. Keeping my elbow how he place it I aim on the bulls-eye I release the arrow sending it flying through the air. The arrow lodges itself into the red center of the target and I simply look at it, eyes wide, surprised.

"You're not a bad shot, just have been holding the bow wrong, if you want I'd be glad to teach you a few tricks I know," he says as I lean the bow on the railing. With an eyebrow raised I turn to face him.

"You'd really do that?" I ask with appropriate skepticism.

He nods. "Why wouldn't I?"

* * *

**Bryan's POV:**

The labs in the tower are phenomenal, advanced and completely up to date. Incredible technology that I would only ever be able to catch a glance of it would be on TV which was not an option at the Warehouse. Tara could probably create something similar but all would be from scrap metal that Shay could scrounge up, then if we had to relocate it would all have to be left behind.

Shaylene seems stressed, the tension back on our living floor is astronomical. So heavy in fact the if one of use were to pull out a blade and cut it, I'm fairly positive that there would be even more tension to fill the last layers place.

"Hello," a voice behind me says. Turning around I see someone I hadn't been actively avoiding but just distancing myself from a bit because after the way everything came out I figure both he and I would need space, I even asked JARVIS if he was in here before coming down.

"Uh... hello," I reply, keeping myself calm even though my heart wants to pound which would not be good for anyone. Guess I have to play along, be nice Bryan don't make a bad impression.

* * *

**Tarben's POV:**

Sprawled across the black, leather couch in the living room of this tower I have one leg thrown over the back of the couch and the other placed on the floor as I continue flipping through channels. Damn, there ain't nothing on and I thought Shay's whole 'living-off-the-grid' thing was dull but seriously, I might as well sleep, that's more interesting than anything on TV.

It's times like these where I wish we actually went to that thing called high school and don't misunderstand, I don't give a flying fuck whether or not I learn anything and I don't like to get up early but I'm so bored right now that I wish I could listen to an annoying, mean teacher blabbing irritating facts into my ear rather than sit in this damn tower doing nothing for another minute.

Even getting lectured by Shay would be more interesting than this. With a frustrated grunt I lightly toss the remote across the room and onto the chair across the from the couch where I lay. Pulling my leg off the back of the couch I sit up, both feet flat on the floor, one hand flat against the left side of my hand and elbow being supported by my knee while I tap the other hand against my leg.

"Something bothering you child?"

Planting a scowl on my face, I spin to face him. "What gave me away?" I sneer.

* * *

**Tara's POV:**

I swear to God, if Shay doesn't quit asking me if I'm okay every ten-gum-gargling minutes, I'm gonna scream. I get it, she's trying to be there for me and I appreciate it but I'm fine. At least she didn't say I told you so which she quite honestly could have. Stupid me believing that the _'great'_ Tony Stark would want anything to do with me.

Pathetic really and besides it's my own fault for letting down my guards, I shouldn't have let him get to me like that. It was a weak move and I should have known better but I was optimistic, something that is a ship wreck waiting to happen. Needless to say, I'm over it, or correction, I've blocked it into the depths of my mind until it's drenched forward.

If I could have one wish at this very moment it would be for us to be far from this damn tower and these superheroes because being in the same tower as Tony Stark is driving me crazy. Adding to that, apparently ghetto, weak, black one-eyed Odin of S.H.I.E.L.D. and Earth took my whips and now I have no idea where they are and I'll tear the whole damn tower down if I have to.

"Hey... Are you okay?"

Just as I'm about to yell at Shay, I realize that isn't her voice, it's much to deep and masculine to be her. There at the door way in an AC/DC T-shirt stands Tony Stark leaning against the door frame as casual as he always seems. Glaring with hateful eyes I respond.

"Normally I'd be inclined to answer that but seeing as I'm not your responsibility I don't want you to think I'm forcing you to listen," I turn back to the bookcase and continue searching for a button for a secret button or doorway.

"Looking for these?" he asks after a few minutes pass in silence. Turning again to tell him to go away I notice, in his hands he hold my whips. Glancing from the handles of my device back up to him I cautiously step back.

"What do you want?" I say in but a whisper.

"To put last night behind us, I said a few things I didn't mean and I'm sure you did too," he replies so casually that I want to believe him but then the tickle of doubt in the back of my mind peeks in. But if I don't my whips are in the hands of Tony Stark who could easily destroy them. Damn...

"Deal..." I say.

* * *

**Shaylene's POV:**

Pulling the bobby pin from the doorknob lock, I twist and nudge the door open revealing a nearly pitch black room with a desktop hidden under scatted papers, sticky notes, G2 pens, and other various items. Sliding my fingers across the wall beside the door I flip up the light switch and quickly close the door behind me to keep the Avengers from finding me in here.

While I'd prefer to send Nathan on this sort of endeavor as he's more skilled in the art of spy work and sneaking in and out of rooms where we aren't supposed to be, he's busy with his predecessor to be here to help me with something as important as this. Everyone seems to be scattered across the tower and as for Tara, I kept asking her if she was okay to annoy her.

It worked as she told me she was heading up to the main floor, I needed her annoyed at me so she'd leave and I'd be able to move forward with my new plan I've set into motion which I'm currently working on. This room is Nick Fury's private office and maybe by digging through here, I'll be able to find something useful to us and maybe clue me in to what HYDRA is currently doing.

Getting on my knees, I open the desk drawers and begin searching through the papers in each of the drawers, finding nothing that would help me at all. Then I see it, his cell phone on the desk top. Blinking on the screen is a letter for the voice mail. Picking up the phone I play back the message and wait while the female voice tells me the date and time of the voice mail.

Over the speaker it's Phil Coulson's voice.

"Director Fury, I know it's been a few day's since I've reported back to you but my team and I had to investigate a break in at one of the U.N.I.T.E.D. bases on the other side of the city. We ran into a group of HYDRA agents, they took a fossil of Item 725 from Location: Sand Dune. They're planning something, something big because they broke into one of the bases for a fossil."

He pauses a moment before continuing.

"I though we saw... I don't know but it was... Never mind, there's no way it could have been who I thought but as each day passes I see more and more HYDRA agents around. You may want to stay on guard at the tower, I think they're after Shaylene and the rest of the clones, I'm not sure why by there was piece of paper we found with a date on it. December 15 of this year. A date for something, I call again when I get more information, Coulson out."

The voice mail ends and I delete the message and remove the evidence of the phone call from Coulson so Fury will be left in the dark for now at least, but the real question is, why would HYDRA want a fossil?


	22. Made of Stone

_Chapter Twenty-Two: Made of Stone_

**_Here we go, a week since the last chapter where all the gang, except Shay, was bonding with their 'parents' and Shay on the other hand pulled some handy spy work and found out the HYDRA broke into a U.N.I.T.E.D. base and stole a fossil, as always be sure to follow, favorite, and leave me comments on what you think_**

* * *

**Third Person POV (Unknown: Location):**

_Glancing over his glasses, Wolfgang Van Strucker examines a fossil taken from a base under S.H.I.E.L.D's command residing on top of his desk. It seems that even after its destruction S.H.I.E.L.D. is trying to pull itself out of the ashes and he won't have it. While the original battle plan of HYDRA had never included coming out secrecy, they did._

_A new game has begun and HYDRA shall be victors while the remains of S.H.I.E.L.D. shall burn in the wake of destruction headed towards them to which a seemingly useless fossil plays a major role. He will be pleased when informed of HYDRA's completed mission, their plan is nearly complete so all they're waiting on is someone that everyone can name._

_After the Helicarrier incident, HYDRA took a heavy blow, adding on with the loss of the Winter Soldier also snagged a hole in original plans for world takeover but needless to mention, they will rise and shall win this battle brewing. With Earth's Mightiest Heroes still shadowed from emerging truth, time is still on HYDRA's side and Wolfgang plans to use that to his advantage._

_Knocking at the door of his office pulls Wolfgang's attention away from the stolen fossil. _

_"Enter..." he says, voice low, monotone. While on the outside he appears calm and collected, on the inside he is seething, especially if none important information is to be reported to him. " Agent Rumlow."_

_Saluting his leader the dark-haired man steps further into Wolfgang's office, closing the door silently behind him. "I've just spoken to HYDRA scientist Lingenfelter who just confirmed the device secured in Sector C on floor 2 is in working order and is ready for trial testing. The DNA from New York Blood and Testing Facility will suffice for testing material."_

_Wolfgang nods his head. "That was the plan to begin with. What is known of our enemies knowledge base on current plans of HYDRA?"_

_"An ignorant HYDRA soldier who is now receiving punishment in the Pit when he attempted to confront and capture one Shaylene in a local coffee shop, in plain sight during the daytime. So she and most likely the rest of her team knows but the soldier mentioned told her about** him** or at least mentioned how he wanted to see her."_

_This catches the HYDRA leaders attention. "I knew of the rest but about him. How much information was spilled to the child about him. If anyone found out, him especially then our plans are sunk. You know better than most that he doesn't want to be in the spotlight, besides he pulls all the strings behind the scenes, we need to be on good terms with him."_

_Brock Rumlow rolls his shoulders before answering. "He says that it was nearly nothing, only the faint mention of our higher ranked leader, apparently Shaylene has no theory as to who he is and so long as we keep in the shadows, she shouldn't until it's too late to stop him, to stop us."_

_"Tell Science Division to begin testing, you are dismissed and Agent Rumlow..." turning back to his leader in black Brock Rumlow waits for him to speak. "Remember, Hail HYDRA!"_

_Rumlow gives a smirk over his shoulder, slightly adjusting his bullet proof vest. "Hail HYDRA..."_

* * *

**Shaylene's POV:**

It seems to me that my entire crew is getting too close to the Avengers for my comfort. Tara's no longer a blazing inferno of raw fury, anger, and hatred at Tony Stark, Clint Barton seems to have taken an interest in working with Ciara on her archery, and Nathan and Natasha Romanoff have been sparring to improve Nate's combat skills. Excluding me, Tarben is the only one distant from their predecessor which is odd.

Usually he and I are never on the same page but for once we are. Apparently while Tarben was laying down on the couch in living room up on this towers main floor while channel surfing, the great Thor attempted to start a conversation with him and instead of opening up, Tarben got up and literally left him in the room and came back down to our floor for an escape.

As for the other four, I'm not quite sure of what story divulges the information behind the oddities taking place. My head is spinning from sheer stress weighing down on my shoulders. Now that is appears my team is so chummy with the Avengers they have let a more pressing matter slip there minds due to their current busy and preoccupied schedule.

HYDRA's still on the offensive but no one is around to help me, I haven't even be able to disclose the information I've gathered as none of them are ever all here at the same time anymore. It's been about four day's since our capture in the tower and already it appears that they have forgotten all that I have done for them and would much rather be involved with the new rather than the old.

Last night while everyone was asleep, I heard something I shouldn't have but now I know what the Avengers are really doing. It isn't about my group or their feelings, no, it's about the cause. It was ten minutes past two last night when footsteps above alerted me to the presence of someone, so naturally I went to investigate.

Rather than using the elevator, I take the stairway to avoid getting caught as well as evade suspicion where I end up hiding by the doorway leading to their living area. All lights are off, moonlight is only available as a light source for catching a glimmer of body outlines, not that there's more than one as Nick Fury is by himself, perched on an arm of a sturdy, black leather chair similar to the fabric his coat's made of.

A cell phone is pressed against his ear as he nods to himself.

"How'd they locate a secure base to steal the fossil from..." Fury pauses. "We're not yet ready to expose ourselves to the public, especially after the disastrous fallout of S.H.I.E.L.D."

Followed by another pause, probably the person on opposite sides of the phone line is speaking. My only assumption is Coulson, I mean, who else would Fury talk to? Well, there's Maria Hill...

Suddenly something dawns on me, Nick Fury's been out of sight for a few days as of late but I've never really questioned, or even thought about it, why? I've been distracted but when Nick Fury mentioned Maria Hill was in the hospital with a broken leg in a cast it didn't sit well with me. It didn't seem like he meant it like he should have if it was truthful.

Nick Fury sighs, running a hand over his face. "Yes Coulson, she's still missing, that's why I had Melinda May report to the base in New York City to see is Maria turned up there because I can't exactly leave the tower without drawing attention."

Thundering footsteps cut Fury's phone call short, just as he hangs up his phone, the Avengers file in. Natasha and Clint sitting down on the couch beside each other, Tony sitting down behind the bar with a glass of scotch in hand. Banner is absent from the proceedings and Thor sits on to Natasha's left. As for Steve Rogers, well he's leaning against the wall facing everyone currently seated.

"How is you plan to gain their trust going?" Fury asks, turning to face them. Wait, what? What does mean, this is all a plan!? Why am I not surprised? Gritting my teeth to keep my temper in check I continue listening to an ever continuing conversation.

"I talked with my doppelganger," Tony begins, taking a swig from his glass before continuing. "Pretty sure Tara forgave me, she hasn't been nearly as pissed as when I originally went to apologize."

Each Avenger gets their chance to explain their current relationship status with my crew which provides me with more information about what's going with them them what I've actually been told us. I knew Barton was helping Ciara with her archery but what I didn't know was that he actually caught her mid-practice, Natasha is helping Nathan with his spy work but still tries to break his guards.

Thor tells them what happened with Tarben which still is surprisingly hilarious considering that I never would have expected Tarben to not want anything to do with him, if anything I figured that he'd be the most thrilled considering how he was all for them finding out about us. It seems that he's the only one who's still fully on my side.

It seems to me that Tarben and I will have to work together as a partnership for the first time, we've always worked together as a group but we've never been together, side-by-side on any mission. Our personalities differ in a way that tends to irritate him more than me. While Tara and I are polar opposites, Tarben and I just have different approaches to a situation.

Tarben lives for the middle moment in battle while I wait and plan a creative and perfected strategy before acting on impulse like he does. He is quick to attack in anger while I use logic and smarts rather than being fueled by my temper. That aside, I was right after all. The Avengers are only getting close to my crew because they need to gain our trust for information.

They'll be crushed when they find out and I can't tell them because if I do then they'll call me out as a liar for pretending that's the reason they're doing what they're doing because I'm jealous or just want a reason to hate them which isn't true. Loosing trust in me isn't what I want them to do so I'll remain silent, watch from the sidelines as events unfold before my very eyes.

"Shaylene's..." at my name I pull away from my thoughts and see Steve Rogers standing somewhat awkwardly as though he doesn't know what to say about me. "Distant, I haven't been able to speak to her at all, she seems to actively avoid me and when I do speak to her she gives quick, vague answers and comments, like she doesn't want to be in the same room with me."

"Give her time Cap," Fury says, one good eye aimed at Steve. "She's been through hell and back and is still here, still fighting."

Suddenly Steve asks a question that I hoped would be avoided for many, many years to come. "What do you know about her, I mean her past? The way you make it sound, like there's a long story."

Fury shakes his head. "I'm sure that there's a long story to tell but even I don't know the full thing, only vague remains and chipped fragments of the story, only Shaylene has the full story and she'll never divulge it willingly."

"Remember what I said Rogers," Natasha says, looking up at him, red hair falling down in natural auburn curls. "She's guarded by emotions, her walls have been carefully crafted by her, they're nearly impenetrable for even me, a spy, to see through."

Slipping back around the corridor and into the shadows I silently enter the stairwell and descend the steps quietly until I reach my floor where I hatch a plan so unlike my typical ideas that it startles me. This plan is so delicate and dangerous that it has to be handled with such delicate care and it'll blow up everything if anyone finds out about it.

Heading down the hallway I turn and enter the last bedroom on the left side of the narrow walkway. It's nearly pitch black in the room but due to my enhanced senses from the Super-Soldier Serum in my DNA the dark doesn't impede my path to the destination I seek. Pulling up a chair at the bedside where a large lump under the covers resides.

Nudging him slightly, the only response is the wave-off of the hand and an annoyed groan. The form rolls over, pulling the cover tighter over their head in attempt to keep sleeping in peace. To bad I'm not going away that easily. Annoyed I get up from the chair and shove him off the bed, he hits the floor with a faint thud before getting to his feet, anger evident.

At least until he see me and remembers what he's wearing, which is next to nothing. He's got on a pair of boxers, thank god, but no shirt or sleep pants. While Tarben may not be super healthy like an Olympic sportsman, he's not overweight either. He's actually close to having a six pack, not that I'm checking him out, I just notice every detail of pretty much everything.

Including the bulge in his boxers, this is so awkward...

I can feel my cheeks flush as I duck my head, shaking is slightly, blond hair falling like a curtain to hide my face. Maybe this could have waited until morning to discuss.

"Shay! What the hell are you doing in here!?" he snaps at me in a harsh whisper, face burning bright like mine probably is, trying to cover himself behind his hands. I open my mouth to speak but my mind goes blank and I can't find the words to say.

"Uh... W-we can... It-It doesn't matter I... I'm just gonna go and uh... yeah," I spin on my heels and rush through the door and proceed down the hall with my hands pressed against my face. Whoa, I was not expecting that, way to go genius. Plopping down on the couch in the living room I wasn't expecting to see Tarben again until at least tomorrow but when footsteps enter the living room.

"I swear to god that whatever you were going to say which ended up making everything awkward between us, better be worth it, and that in there, never happened" he grunts in monotone, turning I see that he's put on a gray hoodie and matching colored yoga shorts. He sits down on the couch cushion beside me, leaning back in a laid-back manner.

"What would you say if I have a plan that could get us both in a lot of trouble if we're caught...?" I raise an eyebrow at him.

This catches his attention as he straightens up a bit, a smirk dances across his lips. "Then I'd say you've got a hell of a lot of explaining to do so you'd better get started before the FED's catch on."

* * *

_**A/N: Yeah, so that was pretty awkward, originally I hadn't planned for him to be nearly naked but then I thought of how funny/awkward that would be and so I had to write it into the story. Also, no, Shay and Tarben don't have a thing for each other, I just saw an opening for a hilariously awkward scene and I took it. Anyways comment if you thought that awkward scene and how you reacted!**_


	23. Operation: Night Owl

_Chapter Twenty-Three: Operation Night Owl_

**_It's been a week so I hope you've all recovered from that seriously awkward ending last chapter and are ready for some bad ass rebellious Shay action to begin. As always, follow, favorite, and comment on this story because I'd love it so very much and ask my question on anything you'd like, now begin!_**

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Last night was Tarben and my last, and only, discussion on my new plan yet he's totally on board already. That might partly be due to my lack of dangerous or sketchy actions and mission plans so when I informed him of a highly dangerous and unlike me to concoct plan he just had to be apart of it. Kind of like when a little kids wants something so you trick them into wanting something else by saying you want the other thing but they can't have it.

Tonight we are setting this plan of mine into action at midnight, until then I've been scoping the place out as subtle as possible. We cannot risk alerting anyone, not even my crew, excluding Tarben, as each of them, in their own was, has been compromised and I can't allow them to be involved when they could very well blow the mission on purpose.

Since they've been growing closer and closer to the Avengers I don't think it's a good idea to let them in on my carefully calculate plan besides due to this new closeness they may be on the opposing side of my plan and I won't risk it. Never thought I'd be here , trying to keep secrets from the majority of my crew, they're the only other people in this world that I've ever trusted.

I walk through one hallway and down another, moving slowly yet casual as to evade curious eyes. Action as though a mindless moment or an involuntary action, I let my hands glide over the walls on either side of me, _play a character Shaylene..._ I tell myself, as I focus on pretending to be someone different or to pull a different aspect of my personality forward.

Tara should be with Stark in his garage nearly all day, Bryan with Banner in the labs, and Nathan and Ciara left together early this morning to meet with Romanoff and Barton in the training facility. As for Thor and _Captain America_, well I'm not quite sure where they are currently or what they're doing or speaking about as I've been a bit busy today.

Rogers isn't wrong, I am avoiding him and am planning throughout my extended stay at Avengers Resort. A male voice sounds in the room and startles me from my thoughts. Jumping back I look up to see the Captain himself dressed in a terrible plaid blue shirt with a brown leather jacket pulled over it. I can't stop the scowl that emerges the second my gaze lands on him.

Either he's blind, which I doubt, or simply ignores my obvious annoyed glare as he continues talking as if I hadn't scowled at all. What does it take to get this guy ticked off enough to leave me alone!?

"We haven't ever just got together for a casual conversation, how about we talk about something, anything you'd like," he says in a small tone, opposite of his Captain America authoritative tone, it's so weird.

"You know it seems to be that you're trying too hard, it'd be better if you just gave up," I retort, narrowing my eyes as my arms fall from the side of each wall. Play it cool, keep all emotions in check, don't let them win.

"Now," I say, my voice taking on a light, lofty sort of essence to it yet still tainted with a harden, hammered-in edge to it. "I best be going, many things I need to get working on."

Walking around him, I stop at the door beside this towers stairwell. Just as I'm about to push the door open, footsteps glue me where I am as I already know who it is, again. Glancing up at him I give an expectant look. When he says nothing I glare, motioning for him to get to the point.

"I know you're avoiding me but I just want to know is why?" he sounds so kind, sincere, I want to trust him, a tiny bit of me does and that scares me even more. My logical side takes over.

My gaze drops to the light-brown colored carpet to avoid his searching eyes. I-I can't deal with this, not here, not now, not ever.

"Everyone's got a secret or two Captain America," he steps back slightly, seeming startled by the hostility in my voice. "And everyone's got a story to tell, I'm no different, just because you and I are trapped together in this tower does not mean that I want to be all buddy-buddy with you because I have my own reason."

_**. . . .**_

The dark of night fills the hallways as I creep in the shadows by a wall in this towers narrow gray walkways. Seeing as this is a covert operation that excludes both of my only trained spies on my teams means I'm best suited to fill those roles because even without talking to Tarben, I know that having him be all secretive isn't all that useful.

I'm a soldier, not a spy so this operation is somewhat out of my expertise. My skill set better serves purpose when it comes to strategies, physical endeavors, and last minute planning, not this. Attaching a small cylinder-shaped device to the towers main control panel, I press the red button in the center and watch as it glows a dull but evident red shade.

Tarben has the other device and is heading into the control room to activate a similar device. These machines, designed by Tara, neutralize any and all security protocols allowing easy escape. If I knew we still had these devices before, I could have planned a way fro us to escape but only come to realize that Tara lied, she-she lied to me.

When I'd asked her about the tech in Nate's backpack she told me those devices were missing but they weren't, I found them under her mattress and nothing makes sense about it. How could she do that to me? Lie, lie to my face and pretend that the situation was unstoppable when we could have escaped. Pushing my anger and feelings of betrayal aside, there is one problem with the machines.

When they were created, Tara's only dilemma with the machines is that they can only be used once and after that they are near next to worthless and she could never fix that kink in the device. Idly waiting near the exit point for Tarben is more nerve racking than fighting the HYDRA agent at that coffee shop, it's not that I think he'll bail because he won't it's just the eerie waiting.

Minutes tick by in near silence as I listen for the light tread of footsteps that seem to never arrive, setting my nerves on fire. Digging my fingers into my thigh in attempt to keep my arms from shaking as bad. Light touch of fingers on my shoulder alert me, spinning around I see Tarben standing there. Oh my gosh... I breathe a sigh of relief.

"I got that thing set up, you ready to get going?" he whispers, glancing around the hallway.

Nodding, I wave for him to follow me as we slip through hallway after hallway without making any noise which in necessary for this operation to go off without a hitch. We slip through the shadows undetected and before I know it, we stand on the sidewalk of busy New York City with the bustling cars and honking of horns but the light breeze puts me at ease.

Being cooped up in that tower isn't doing me any good and Tarben seems to sense it when he relaxes a bit, like my high-strung attitude was starting to impact him, which seems a bit odd. Usually he seems to be unaffected by my personality but then again, I am a huge part of his, and the rest of my crews, life so of course they would sense my distress.

We cross the street as cars honk in annoyance due to cutting them off. I simply ignore them but even so I can feel the anger radiating off of Tarben and his fists clenching at his sides is also another obvious tell. He needs to get a better handle on his emotion but Tarben isn't one to listen to my advice so why bother, when it comes to my orders though, he listens to them.

"Where do you think we'll find HYDRA agents at? We don't even know their plan or their base of operations," Tarben whispers, trailing beside me as we weave through alleyways like before.

"Maybe not," I say, thinking over something I remember seeing as Tara and I were fleeing the Warehouse. "But I think I know something there that may just be out ace in the hole."

Tarben doesn't say another world but instead follows me in silence as I lead us back towards the Warehouse and realization seems to dawn across his face, especially when we arrive at the ink black scorched remains of the building. It's pitch dark inside, all the windows have been busted out and glass litters the concrete floor but everything else seems to still be here.

Our couch is still sitting where it was, well, actually its been flipped over when HYDRA agents were digging through the room but it seems as though they left everything in one piece. Glancing around the floor I search for the HYDRA pin that I saw on the floor when Tara and I were leaving due to our unwanted visitors that day but hopefully they left the pin.

When my gaze lands upon the button residing on the ground by the tipped over couch, darting forward I practically slide across the ground and curl my fingers around the pin. It's a heavy little pin, sculpted of polished steel and carefully designed. Flipping the pin over I glance at the deep black inside of the pin in search of any sort of code or location for it.

Just as I'm about to give up on finding something on or in the pin when I see a crinkled corner of white paper. Reaching for it, I pull the paper free and rapidly unfold it as Tarben falls into a crouch by my side, watching as I open the paper. _1009 E Avenue. 19.06° by Railroad tracks._

Glancing up at Tarben he seems to be thinking the same thing as me, what does this mean? How could HYDRA possibly guess I would remember this pin and come back for it to find them? The real answer is they wouldn't, so this must be a plan they set after finding out about us in the hopes that I would see it and come and so I'll give them exactly what they want.

Tarben seems to sense the plan brewing in my mind because he shakes his head no so fast that one would think someone suggested to go watch the third Batman move of the original series. "No, Shay. That is a very, very bad idea."

Glancing up at him I start towards the back door of the Warehouse with Tarben hot on my heels, still trying to talk me out of going to that location that the pin held, because I've figured out a way that is sure to help me and my crew to escape all the webs we've been weaved into. Maybe if I can pull this off, no one, besides Tarben will have to know about it because by then it'll all be over.

"If you're not going to change your mind, will you at least tell me how you're planning to make this shit work out in a positive way," he says, sighing as I stop and spin around to face him. He jumps when he bumps into me and realizes that I now am facing towards him.

"This is the only way Tarben so either you can join me or keep quiet while I do what I have to," I say, looking at him with cold, focused eyes.

"What are you—" I cut him off.

"You know what I'm going to do Tarben, it's the same thing you're going to do and what we should have done a long time ago. Besides, it's best to be on the winning side and we never asked for this."

Tarben's eyes flicker to the right for a nano second before skirting back to me, a smile overtaking his lips. Shaking his head he lets out a low, humorless laugh before going deathly silent.

"You understand now don't you?" I ask.

"Yeah," he nods, grinning. "Hail HYDRA."

I return the smirk and in an endearing tone respond. "Cut off one head and two more shall take its place, Hail HYDRA."


	24. House of Cards

_Chapter Twenty-Four: House of Cards_

**_Welcome back to this amazingly sexy story, now last time Shay and Tarben broke out of the tower and are now apparently going to join HYDRA so my question is what do you think about that? Anyways, be sure to follow, favorite, and leave me lots of comments and now you all may read this next amazing chapter that took me forever to write because I got stuck at "Still Yet..." but hey, it's finished now so what does it matter anymore? _**

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Glistening blue moonlight washes over the area, reflecting rays of light off the bare railroad tracks the split the landscape into two separate sections with different geographical identifiers. On the side of the track were Tarben and I stand is more industrial, still barren, but leads into the main city of New York and lacks any sort of plant life while the other side of the track is the opposite.

Trees dotted the landscape on the other side of the tracks, creating the other sound of rustling leaves as the wind weaves through the area, blowing my hair forward and into my face. Sputtering I swipe the hair from my face and look up to see a lone figure standing in the same way we are, distanced the same as us from the tracks but on the other side of the divide.

Whoever it is that stands across from us in slightly hunched over, dressed in a black cloak that falls just past their feet but hides their face under the hood that seems to provide a curtain for them. The person raises a hand and waves to us to follow them and when I start forward so does Tarben. We stay three feet behind the unknown HYDRA agent as he leads us towards the back side of an abandoned old brick building.

A heavy looking metal door is the only thing there to close off the rest of the world from seeing whatever it is that lies on the other side of the wall. The cloaked stranger reaches inside the folds of his cloak for something, a key card perhaps. I turn out to be correct but instead of a key or a card like I had originally anticipated it was something else entirely.

Instead what it turns out to be is a small, flat yet still circular disc with grooves dipping in and out of the sidings. An aqua blue ring circles the center of the disc where a lone hole resides in the discs center. Zig-zagging lines decorate the aqua filling but these lines instead glow in a deep, ominous shape of red that illuminates the cloaked mans hand that is covered by a black leather glove.

The cloaked stranger slips the disc into a small rectangular slot on the buildings side , next to the door, and as soon as he does, the metal door swings open into what is revealed as darkness. Silence is the only refuge for Tarben and I as we know we won't be ambushed, not yet at least. As we step further into the darkness, the facility seems to sense that we're here as a low buzzing sound starts up.

Dull lights flicker to life, displaying the world in an ugly yellow glow that overtakes the entire room. Chipped tile floors greet us, and the burning scent of bleach bites at my nostrils. I bite my bottom lip in attempt to keep from sneezing or getting teary-eyed from the bleach that is eating at my nose and sending a shooting pain through my airways.

_Bang!_

Sounds the back door of the building when it slams shut behind Tarben. Following the cloaked stranger, he leas us across the floor of the building where an old elevator reside. It's obviously old by the way the buttons have been designed and the carefully crafted scroll work done on the metal the surrounds the area around the buttons.

Again the cloaked figure uses the same disc to open the elevator door by pressing it into the small slot designed for the disc just about the metal paneling for the buttons. It's an entirely glass elevator that opens for us, the kind the was in he older Willy Wonka movie that Tara told me all about after stealing the movie illegally offline.

Elevator begins descend as Tarben and I watch the retreating floors filled with thousands of different and unique items all for HYDRA use. Our backs are pressed against the wall in attempt to see everything in such a short amount of time, when I get home I will begin sketching out a blueprint of the base and all weapons that I have seen during my time here.

Fully armored tanks, highly armed planes, and decked out submarines line the floor of one of the underground rooms we pass. A weapon vault filled with guns, knives, and enough ammo to wipe out the entire population of California and New York combined as well as many other odd devices that are scattered across sleek metal tables.

Still yet, the elevator continues to descend to an unknown destination that still puts both Tarben and me on high alert in case anything goes wrong or doesn't turn out the way I'm hoping. If this works, then maybe I can re-distance my crew from the Avengers because right now they are getting to close and I'm not sure it's the best thing for them in the long run.

Once the doors do open, we are led down a long, narrow hallway with polished gray concrete floors with wall bordering halfway up towards then replaced by what I can only assume is bullet proof glass. HYDRA agents stand across the area separated from us by the glass, each of them appearing to be working on something important but then I see something that really catches my attention.

Across the floor I see something that puts everything else on a temporary pause, standing face to face, alone, in deep conversation it appears is Brock Rumlow, the former leader of STRIKE but was revealed to be a HYDRA agents. It's not so much a surprise that he's here, but what peaks my interest even more is who it is that Rumlow's conversing with.

Abu Bakar, a member of The Ten Rings, I am only aware of him and his connections to the terrorist group due to all the news reels revolving around the organization and it's connections to Tony Stark. He a bigger man with black, curly hair, and a black, graying, full goatee. He's dressed in an faded green jacket, with rips and tears along the jackets seems.

Rumlow on the other hand is dressed in a black T-shirt with a bullet proof vest pulled over it with a comm unit in his ear. Using the slightly enhance hearing gained from the Super-Soldier Serum from Steve's DNA, I focus all my senses on what they're saying. Faintly, I catch the sounds of their voice and am able to understand what they're saying.

"Why would HYDRA team up with a pathetic terrorist organization that has done nothing in the ways of aiding the cause that HYDRA has been working many years to achieve?" Rumlow asks, narrowing his eyes.

Abu gives a humorless chuckle. "While HYDRA and The Ten Rings have never quite seen eye to eye on these particular issues, there's something that we want and something that you want. If we work together we both could achieve our goals."

"And what is it that The Ten Rings asks of HYDRA to provide them aid with?"

Narrowing his eyes, a sight grin decorates Abu's lips. "Something that HYDRA wants as well, to eliminate Tony Stark and in return we will help HYDRA with any and all plans. The Ten Rings also have a few plans in mind for the future that we would like incorporated in the new world but we have our sights set on a much bigger prize that would be possible with HYDRA's help."

Brock Rumlow glance down at a watch encircling his wrist before glancing back up at Abu Bakar. "Sorry to cut this meeting short but I have another engagement that needs my absolute attention. I'll have Agent Kaminsky take you to out leader for further discussion."

The man, Agent Kaminsky approaches Bakar, nodding for him to follow at his side which Bakar obliges and follows the HYDRA soldier without asking any questions that might set them on alert. Rumlow turns and starts towards a clear glass door opposite from where Tarben and I currently are in the HYDRA's hallway or floor plan.

We continue after the cloaked figure as they turn the corner, taking a left that now leads us in a similar direction that Rumlow has begun towards. Hallway after hallway we pass and soon I feel myself getting on edge and in the defensive type of way I usually get when something doesn't seem right and this certainly doesn't seem to be going where I hoped.

Just as I'm about to ask if we're actually going anywhere, we come to a halt at a dead end hallway with a lone, gray, metal door on the wall waiting just ahead of us but appears to be locked as no one opens it. The cloaked figure reaches int his robe and pulls out the same disc and slips it into a small slot in the doors center,, pulling it free just as the door swings open.

The cloaked figure waves for us to enter the room that has now been opened to us. My nerves buzz on high alert, something doesn't feel right about this but regardless of our unease, Tarben and I enter what appears to be a gym of training center for HYDRA agents. If anything, I figured their training rooms where like creepy stone dungeons with old-age battle weapons.

Shiny, thin, wooden boards create the floor we're standing on, ropes tied in intricate knots swing from the ceiling, large wooden slabs of board are suspended overhead by the rafters, rows upon rows of target boards lining one wall, cushion pads for both the floor and the walls, all the target practice papers for guns, and at least ten punching bags also confirm my assumption true.

Loud thumping of footsteps catch my full attention, my gaze slides to Tarben to make sure I'm not the only on hearing this. Based on his arched eyebrow and how the left one remains stationary in the way it was before, I can tell that he hears the approaching people as well. I try to keep my body and mind relaxed as whomever it is, slowly nears the rooms center.

Out from the shadows of the outskirts of the rooms corners, I see Brock Rumlow with a Glock 19 aimed at me while hordes of HYDRA agents all dressed in black surround us, both on the floor, and around the top of the room on the walkway along the side of the training rooms walls, near to the ceiling. All of them have us a gunpoint, and I raise up my arms in a surrendering way.

My eyes scan over the faces of the HYDRA agents but unfortunately they all wear masks that hide their face, all except Rumlow who steps towards us, nearing the rooms center where we stand. He keeps his gun held up and aimed at us but narrows his dark eyes at us as if confused by what we could possibly doing here, but I already know what he's thinking.

How much I look like Captain America...

"What are the two of you doing here?" he asks, voice deep and cold, an authoritative type of vibe springing forth from his expression, form, and based on the guns aimed at us.

"At the warehouse we found a note, one telling us to go to the railroad tracks," I speak up, lowering my hands slightly. "We have a proposition for you, one that I think HYDRA would love to hear."

"And what would that be?" he asks, seemingly uninterested in what I have to say.

"We want to join HYDRA," I say, and Rumlow glances up, surprised while I keep my emotions in check, showing nothing and giving nothing away. Play it off as the one in total control, that's the way to win the war.


	25. Point of No Return

_Chapter Twenty-Five: Point of No Return_

**_Welcome to the next chapter of this series, wow, I have a lot of cliffhangers in this story but I just can't help it, they're so easily accessible with this story so I just have to. And I know I haven't had Shay and Steve interact much with each other but that'll be coming up soon and be prepared for Shay's constant pushing away. Trust me, she has a good reason for doing it though. I still have a lot planned, in fact I haven't even reached the climax yet so strap in for more chapters! Be sure to comment and favorite and tell me what you're most looking forward to finding out._**

**_ALSO: _**_What do you think about The Ten Rings and HYDRA team up?_**_ (_****Originally I wasn't going to include them but then I realize they could be useful for this plot and a possible sequel, I haven't decided if this story will have a sequel but if you all have any ideas on what one could be about, I'd love to hear it**_**)**_

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**FLASHBACK:**

_"At the warehouse we found a note, one telling us to go to the railroad tracks," I speak up, lowering my hands slightly. "We have a proposition for you, one that I think HYDRA would love to hear."_

_"And what would that be?" he asks, seemingly uninterested in what I have to say._

_"We want to join HYDRA," I say, and Rumlow glances up, surprised while I keep my emotions in check, showing nothing and giving nothing away. Play it off as the one in total control, that's the way to win the war._

* * *

Brock Rumlow narrows his eyes and Tarben and I before giving a low, humorless chuckle like he doesn't believe a word we say, well, word I say as Tarben has yet to say anything to me since we arrived here. Sideways glaces and subtle facial expressions are the only method of communication that we have used since arriving at this HYDRA base and it's understandable why that is.

All guns are still trained on us but they seem to be waiting on Rumlow's orders so for now we're in the clear, as long as he doesn't decide to kill us right now before we are allowed to leave. I have to convince him to hear me out so I can lay my cards out on the table and give him my reasoning for wanting to aid HYDRA in their mission of world domination.

"Before you make your decision on whether or not to kill us here and now at least hear me out. I have my own personal agenda in all of this, of course, but not for the reason you might think," I say, attempting to sway him into listening to my reasoning.

Without moving the gun from its aim her speaks. "Explain before I decide to not be so kind."

"As you and the rest of HYDRA probably already know, I have a team of six, he and I included, but we have lived in the shadows for over a decade but only recently we've be purged from the shadows that we would have much rather remained in. While my team and I would naturally be considered a threat to HYDRA, I would like to say we aren't."

"And why would I believe a word you say? HYDRA is already aware that you are currently staying at the Avengers Tower where our enemies reside and you have given HYDRA no reason to want to put its faith in you."

I give a slight grin with no emotion behind it. "Not by our choice might I add, we broke into Avengers Tower to tell," I give a sour scowl at his name. "Maria Hill to leave us alone for the final time as we wanted to live in peace, like any normal civilians yet she and the shattered remains of that pathetic organization just couldn't leave us be."

Rumlow lowers his weapon while still having the other HYDRA agents keep their guns raised in case we're still bluffing and I don't blame him for that, how can he trust me and how could I possibly trust him? Continuing as though he hasn't moved his gun, I continue on my explanation.

"Had it not been for the constant interference of the remaining shambles f S.H.I.E.L.D. then we never would have come out from the shadows, all we want is piece of mind and now things with the Avengers are getting to close for my comfort," I pause. "They want information from us and that is their only reason for keeping us around and while I see it, the rest of my crew does not, they are blinded by fantasy."

"Go on," Rumlow replies, he seems to have settled a bit, easing into a comfortable association for now and I fully intend to keep it this way, and so I continue talking about my motives for showing up here today.

"Tarben," I motion to him, standing at my side. "Is the only one of my crew who is not been warped into an illusion that after their precious Avengers gain the information they crave, that they'll still want to be associated with them and I, being the closet thing they've had to a parental figure, naturally don't want to see them get hurt by the grim reality that will fall into place once everything comes out."

"What happens after HYDRA prevails and the remainder of S.H.I.E.L.D. falls? HYDRA won't risk potential threats and if you and your team really are as valuable to the prolonging future as you have claimed then you are a threat to HYDRA and we need to have a reason not to take you and your team out as soon as we get the chance," Rumlow chimes in, his voice still cold and void of emotion but filled with interest.

"After HYDRA prevails my team and I will fade away, back into the shadows, never to be bothering you and the rest of HYDRA while you and your organization reinvent the world in HYDRA's image. All we want is to be free from constant harassment and never being allowed to live in peace, if we wanted to do something, we most certainly would have done it by now but S.H.I.E.L.D. forced my hand."

He gives a slight smile before it falls away and he steps back slightly. "Well, if that's the case then you have made the right decision to choose the winning team, clearly you can see the turning tides, we won't trust you right away, but if you do as told, you could work your way up through the ranks. We'll have you tested to see if you are able to be trusted with holding HYDRA's secrets. We have certain... Precautions and punishments for traitors."

"I understand completely but Tarben here will not be as involved as I, he'll be the one keeping eyes on the Avengers as we don't want to blow my cover with the team otherwise they'll prohibit me from aiding HYDRA's agenda, he'll be our eyes and ears on the inside while I'm out on missions to help HYDRA, is that alright?" I ask, tilting my head slightly.

He nods slowly as if thinking about all the aspects of what I have just asked of him and HYDRA. "Seems logical to be able to keeps your cover if you have a man on the inside who will keep his attention on those who cannot be trusted as of now. Our main concern now is getting you in and out of Avengers Tower at the dead of night without the Avengers catching on."

"I think I know a way to do that, I'll trick Tara, another of my crew, who is really into technology try to fix the device we used to escape the tower and say something like:_ 'now that we're surrounded by all these supplies, you could finally finish that device_'," I say.

"If she isn't one of those you can trust then it won't be the best idea for you to get her to build something, otherwise she may get suspicious as to why you've asked her to fix it."

I grin. "Not if she thinks the whole thing was her idea which shouldn't be that hard to convince her of, it'll take me a couple of hours as most, I'm hoping that it's a quick, simple fix because the sooner we get the Avengers taken down, the sooner my crew and I can disappear."

"My boss with probably want to meet with the both of you before we can come to any formal decisions so, lets go before he's in a bad mood," with that he waves for us to follow and we do. All the HYDRA agents lower their weapons but still keep a firm grip on them as we maneuver through the hallways towards where HYDRA's leader resides.

I'm already thinking over what I'll say to him when we arrive, while he might ask the same things that Brock Rumlow did, I highly doubt that he would seeing as he'd be more interested in me and why I would do something as such and while my reasoning is logically that does not mean that the leader of this organization will believe me right away.

On top of it all, if he doesn't believe me then he can give a direct order to have both Tarben and me slain in his sight and that is not my intention at all, I want to survive this encounter and while I know if they attempting to kill us we would certainly fight back to the best of our ability but being in a HYDRA base surrounded by their agents doesn't necessarily put the odds in our favors.

Just like before, we travel through a twisting maze of turns, door, and hallways that all appear exactly the same and have no rhyme or reason and just are. It's feels like a long walk before we finally arrive at a door that Rumlow explains is the HYDRA leaders office. Rumlow knocks a code on the door, no known code to anyone and when the return of someone knocking on wood, her turns to me.

"He'll see you," he says to me, then Taben, and back to me. "Only you."

Nodding I tell Tarben it's fine just when he's about to protest my entering the room by myself. I'm more worried about Tarben being out here alone with all these HYDRA agents then I am with going in to meet their leader myself. At least if this goes sour I'll only have one main enemy to face off with in there but out here is where the rest of the HYDRA agents roam.

Stepping into the room, the doors shut behind me the second I step through. Behind a big bulky wood desk in a man with light brown hair shaved close to his head, a monocle over his right eye, and dressed in a black, almost turtleneck, looking attire with buttons down the shirt center. He glances up at me with distant eyes that seems not to care that I'm here at all.

Like I'm just some nuisance that he has to take care up and if that is what he wants to think then there's nothing I can do to stop him. He says nothing just waves for me to sit down in one of the chairs in front of his desk which I immediately do.

"Before this goes any further..." he pauses, looking down at some lone white piece of paper attached to a wooden clipboard in front of him, wooden pencil inside the clip. After briefly looking the unknown sheet of paper he glances back up and me and slowly finishes his thoughts with a subtle but obvious threat in his words. "Give me one real reason for why HYDRA and myself should put our trust, and faith in you, Miss America?"

Before I allow myself to think about all the reason, before I let myself get to wrapped up in all the possibilities to that question, I say the first thing that comes to my mind and it scares me just how truthful the answer truly is. "I hate Captain America and he's ruining everything..."

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_**A/N: There we go, so what do you all think of this? Why do you think she hates him so much, because I already know but I'm sort of curious about what you all think and what about Shay joining HYDRA, crazy right? Anyways as always comment below and tell me what you think's going to happen next with Shay, Tarben, and this whole HYDRA scandal.**_


	26. Burning Silence

_Chapter Twenty-Six: Burning Silence_

**_Pretty much what happened last times consisted of Shay and Tarben joining HYDRA and Shay meeting Wolfgang Von Strucker, and she admitted to hating Captain America and you the readers have no idea why. Trust me, it's gonna be a shocker for everyone, well, hopefully. So be sure to comment and favorite this story and tell me what you're all most dying to see or find out about_**

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Morning rolls by and Tarben and I have somehow managed to slip back inside without being detected and while escaping the confides of this tower is much simpler a process than re-entering as we aren't able to remove the devices separately like when putting them in place. I had to use out comm units to keep in touch with Tarben so we could remove the devices at the same time.

In fact, I had to count down from five so that we could remove the pieces at the same time because if they're removed at different times then they'll set off the alarms of the tower and that's one of the last things we want to happen. Especially after our encounter and association with HYDRA agents, that really wouldn't put the Avengers on ease if they found out.

Tarben will probably sleep the whole day away from just how tired staying up all night makes a person, I on the other hand, am perfectly alright because I'm used to being exhausted all the time so this is like a walk in the park. Being up all night and staying up all day are typical aspects of my life that over the years have come to really reflect my dedication to my team.

Standing alone in the living room on our living floor I watch the black TV screen, lost deep in thought as I try to process everything that's just happened in the last couple of hours, more than a couple, more like five or six hours. HYDRA is planning something big, that much I can already tell and could tell before but now with The Ten Rings getting involved in HYDRA agendas.

This is going to be big and the only way for us to stay afloat is to be on the inside and so that's exactly what I am going to do. If it means keeping my crew safe from HYDRA's targets then so be it. Safety for my crew is my first priority as it has always been and if that means doing some things I don't want to do in the means of keeping them safe, then so be it.

While I am not quite sure what HYDRA is planning on doing, at least I have my foot in the door and this way I'll keep everyone I care about safe from their rein of terror which is all that matters. Lying to my team has to be the worst part about this though, I have never flat out lied to my team before and it makes me feel guilty and makes me wonder what they'll think of me when they find out.

Sure my hazy past has always fascinated and sparked curiosity from them, I have never lied about anything which is why they don't know much about my past and my childhood before Nick Fury had me meet the people who would end up being my team. Mysteries always catch the attentions of millions but those who keep locked chests are the ones who live to fight another day.

My inner demons only haunt me but if my crew ever found out about me then they would be tormented by the reality and I would live in constant reminder of a past that I have been trying to forget for the last ten year. Nathan has asked me time and time again about my past and why I am the way that I am and I have always told him that I have my reasons.

He never pressed, none of my crew has, but I can tell their curiosity is still blazing like an inferno as I have told them nothing of my life. Tara knows more about me then the rest of them, she sees more quirks and tells of mine then the rest of them and this is because of how close we are. She's learned to read my stoic and emotionless tones and expressions after so many years.

Before me, Tara had no confidence and most of the crew bullied Tara and while I know they regret that they treated her the way they did, it doesn't change the fact that it did happen. I helped Tara gain confidence and helped her blossom into the personality she always had yet kept hidden because of ridicule by her peers, or our team who now treat her as an equal.

Things in my teams didn't always work as well as they do now, I remember when we first escaped S.H.I.E.L.D. and we were such a rocky team that couldn't work together. They didn't want to obey my orders and thought that I wasn't any smarter than them just because I was a year older, but then I got tired of being chewed out by them when if not for me, they'd still be lab rats.

Nathan called me out and said that he was tired of obeying an annoying girls order and that's when I snapped and couldn't take anymore negativity and hatefulness and while it was a decade ago, I can still recall it as though it were only yesterday. I remember wiping around to face him, my blood boiling and I shouted back at him, and the rest of them.

Tara was the only one who didn't face the furious side of me that reared her ugly head. _"Then go!" _I remember shouting at them. Pointing towards the surrounding woods that encircled us. _"I am not your babysitter and I will not be treated like some ditsy blond who can't think or make intellectual decisions, so if you want to brave the world on your own go right ahead. I'm not going to stop you but Nick Fury was out of his mind to think you all could suffice as a team!"  
_

_"What do you mean?" Nathan asked, green eyes narrowed, hatred brimming in them._

_"You all are hateful, rotten children with not an ounce of respect in your bodies. When things get tough, the tough get going but here you are! Complaining because the world isn't how you would like it to be. Well I have news for you," I look at them all. "For all of you! The world is a rolling dumpster fire and it's is an awful, torturous event and nothing will change it."_

_They all watch me, Tara cowering behind me as I glare at the other four who all glare back. None of them understand pain, or sacrifice and expect everything to be happy and dandy and I can't imagine a way for them to be a team. I can't lead people who don't want to be together as a team and I won't try hard to help them when they don't want to help me._

_"None of you are better than the other, you treat each other," stepping aside, I nudge Tara forward. "Does this make you feel better? Knowing you've scared this girl so bad that she isn't confident in her own world? You all live in the same place, under someone's thumb but yet you establish classes when none of you matter more or less then the other and I won't help those who don't appreciate my aid, so go, if you want to go then go. I won't stop you."  
_

Then I turned and walked away, with Tara hot on my heels and all I know for sure is that at some point they started to follow me, and while that didn't fix all the tension and friction right away we learned to work together and eventually ended up here. Where they're now meeting these people who couldn't care less about them and I can't say anything about it.

If I say anything they'll think I'm being paranoid and even if they do believe me by telling them about what I overheard then it'll only hurt them and that isn't what I want. My only option is getting all of us out of here before the truth comes out, that is how it always goes when people keep secrets, they eventually come out but at the worst possible time and that is why I'm so quiet about myself.

Only I know what happened, well, there's one other person who is still around who knows but she isn't likely to mention it considering what all I know. Feeling the flare of anger at remember this person makes me pus the thoughts aside as now isn't the time to be worrying about her. She's not the main threat as of now I need to stay focused on the mission at hand.

Something is still brimming in the back of my mind which are all the number, the ones in our files because something about them just makes me uncomfortable or feel on edge and I have no idea why. It's just something about that doesn't seem right and without these answer, I feel like I'm on overdrive right now because of how much pressure this all is.

Just when eleven in the morning rolls around, that's when I hear the sound of the elevator door opening and I jump to my feet, spinning to face whoever it is that has come down to out floor. For all I know it could have been HYDRA agents, they do have the ability to transport in and out of this tower as I've seen them do it before, so clearly they can.

Besides, who would appear here this early in the morning? While Nathan was always up fairly early, that was when we were on the run and living in safe houses and he was on high alert but when I returned to the tower I checked up on all my crew. Each of them were sleeping soundly all except Tarben as he had just gotten back with me so of course I didn't check on him but everyone else I did.

Heavy footsteps near and I am completely ready for a fight if needs be but relax slightly when the person slips out from behind the wall that kept them hidden but I still stay of my guard. What does he, of all people, possibly want? As if I wasn't already stressed out enough as it is, no, this is something else for me to deal with on no sleep.

"Captain America, what do we owe the pleasure to your visit," I say kindly, whilst through gritted teeth. As kind as I attempt to be towards him is a limited resource which nearing the brink of an end. Steve stands three feet away from me and shifts awkwardly, like this is uncomfortable or he's trying to figure out the best way to ask whatever it is that he wants to ask.

"You can call me Steve you know..." he comments lightly, not an edge to his tone. He shifts his weight onto one foot as he taps his hand on his leg still trying to figure out what to say. Fed up with this annoyingly and embarrassing hang time I finally just speak up.

"Just ask what you want to ask because I'm not in the mood for you to decide how to say whatever it is that you want so just do it, I'm not going to bite," I say, placing a hand to my hip and tilting my head slightly to the left.

"After speaking with Fury, I got his and the rest of my friends agreement to allow me to take you from the tower for the afternoon and so I wanted to ask what you wanted to do before planning anything myself," he says in such a rush that it takes me a few seconds to completely understand what he just asked of me. Raising an eyebrow in confusion I respond.

"Why...?" I ask slowly.

"Well I figured it would be rude not to ask you before making decisions on something like—" I cut him off before he gets the chance to continue babbling on like an yapping dial spin toy.

"No, I meant why would you ask if we could leave the tower and why would you automatically assume I would agree to go? Besides, I see no reason for which this would benefit you, or maybe I do..." I say, narrowing my eyes at him.

He blinks a few times before taking a step forward. "I don't have an agenda for asking you and I'm sorry if I assumed you would, I figured you would enjoy leaving the confines of the tower and should have asked your permission first. I guess I'll just go."

Steve turns and starts walking towards the elevator when I start to feel bad, while I don't want to spend any time with him it was still rude of me to go on the offensive like I did. "Fine!" I call out and he turns, confusion evident.

"Fine, I'll go wherever it is that you want, doesn't matter," I repeat, keeping the frustration and annoyance out of my tone. Despite my lack of wanting nothing to do with the Avengers, I don't want to loose my morals by being disrespectful and mean when there is no sense in it. So I'll suck up my feelings and be nice and as soon as it's over, come back to this floor and hide out.

The sooner this is over, the sooner I can convince Tara to figure out a way to improve the device for escape but perhaps figure out a way to only need once device in place that turns the rest of the alarms and camera systems off.


	27. Eternal Transcendence

_Chapter Twenty-Seven: Eternal Transcendence_

**_Here we go, so last time Shay and Tarben got back to the tower where Shay spent the rest of the night awake and then Steve Rogers came down to the floor they're staying on and managed to get her to agree to hang out with him. So yeah, be sure to favorite, and leave comments on what you think and be prepared for Shay pushing people away in maybe this chapter and definitely others to come._**

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I cannot tell you how awkward it is to sit in a cherry red Dodge Challenger next to Captain America when I can't even stand being in the same room, much less car, with him but I attempt to keep my annoyance and disdain in check as I don't want to only be thought of as the rude blond girl who can't keep her emotions in check but yet is supposed to control of team of five other teenagers only a year younger.

While hate isn't a strong enough word to describe how I feel about spending my entire day with the oh-so-wholesome Captain himself who can do no wrong in everyone else in the world's eyes. I know that my anger at him is completely unjustifiable considering everything I know but I just can't help feeling the way that I do and besides if he didn't exist or never became the super-soldier I would never even be here to cause problems for the world.

He and the rest of his fellow Avengers just don't understand, I don't fill them in on my anger, and the only one who remembers either wouldn't ever speak about it to anyone, or perhaps has forgotten themselves. Those who knew, very few actually did, are no longer around, not that I had anything to do with that but I like it that way, where no one remembered or knows anything about me, maybe I'll be able to live a relatively normal life.

In my peripheral vision I can see Steve, his hands on the steering wheel, and eyes focused on the road ahead of him. He's dressed in a plain white T-shirt and a brown leather jacket with an endless supply of pockets along the front. Typical old-school fashion like in the 1950's but fairly updated for someone who lived during the forties and was frozen for almost 70 years.

I dread the day I ever have to use my well-rounded knowledge to dress like the women from that time period, or craft my make up in the same way, or especially fixing my hair the way they did. No thank you...

"I figured that we could head down to this tiny little local coffee shop that I occasionally visit and perhaps after we could go see a film down at the..." he trail off and I can feel his eye shift to me as I say nothing and just watch the passing ocean and watch the Statue of Liberty sitting on the small island out to sea. Green and glorious she stands as a freedom of hope for America, with the iconic torch in her hand.

Did you know that the Statue there finished construction in April on 1886?" I ask numbly, voice distant and void. So completely off and unlike how it normally is with the bounce and flare that I typically have.

He nods, slowly at first. "Yes, but I'm more surprised that you do. Most people in this day and age seem to know next to nothing about the past, whereas I don't know anything that would come in the future," he gives a lighthearted laugh.

"There's a lot of things about me that are different Cap," I impishly chime, continuing to watch the ripping of the blue sea and the zipping of cars on the opposite lane from us. For many it may seem as if I'm enjoying the scenery but I'm not, instead I see another world before my eyes, evil laughter filling my ears, my throat closing up and air being forced from my lungs and I can't, I can't breathe—

"Here we are..." he says, and I glance away from the window and push the car door open just as he rounds the car. I guess he was going to get the door for me but I'm perfectly capable of opening it myself. Planting my feet on the ground, I step out on the parking lot but just as I'm about to close the door Steve lightly waves me away and closes it for me.

Instead of saying something like I want to and starting a fight, I bite my tongue despite my blood boiling in my veins and just pretend that everything's just fine. Suddenly it dawns on me, this is the same coffee shop I went that one day to get Tara her coffee and those dozen donuts. HYDRA agent that came a shot up the place and could have murdered a child.

Another thing that hits me like a ton of bricks is that Amber works here and the last time I saw her was during that fiasco and bullet holes had been embedded in the yellow wall directly behind where I was standing. I know its been about a week since then but I'm not sure if they would have gotten that wall fixed by now and if Amber is working she might give away more information than I want Steve and the rest of the Avengers to know.

Swallowing any issues with entering the establishment, I go for it and decide that whatever happens will only ever end badly anyways so why worry about something that I have no control over. Air inside the coffee shop is lively with the a chocolate scent and the low grumbling of a coffee machine located somewhere behind the counter.

As soon as I sit down on one side of the bench I drop my head on my arms and look out the window in attempt to keep my face hidden from sight on the off chance Amber is actually here. I hear Steve sit down across from me but I keep my attention fixated on the window as the sound of passing cars and loud, honking of horns fill the uncomfortable silence.

The silence stretches on and I have the urge to just scurry away like a rat at a dinner party but unlike them, I actually cannot which quite honestly makes me a tad bit jealous that I'm not able to do so. Maybe someone will pull the fire alarm and it'll be a total false alarm but will at least get us out of here, I glance around and see no one that seems likely to do that.

"Since I've missed a lot of history in the last sixty-some years frozen, would you like to tell me about some of the things I've missed?" he asks, trying to get me to talk, about anything.

"What would you like to hear about 9/11, the Iraq War, Korean War, uh there was the Cold War, the first time landing a man on the moon, Martin Luther King Jr., or there Barack Obama, the first African American president."

He just blinks and looks at me confused. I know he wouldn't know everything that has happened in history but seriously? I mean really, out of all the things he chooses to learn, the internet is before history.

"Yeah, you missed a lot of things..." I say dryly, leaning back against the cushion of the booth when something in the corner of my eyes draws my attention but I keep myself calm, neutral like there's nothing drawing my attention. Sitting on a bar stool near the front of the establishment is Doctor Lingenfelter, a HYDRA scientist who worked under Daniel Whitehall before Phil Coulson eliminated him.

Wolfgang Von Strucker informed me of this before allowing me to return back to Avengers Tower, he told me that Lingenfelter would meet up with me to give me my piece of the mission when I wasn't expecting it. Her green eyes flicker to the Women's restroom and back, signalling me to meet her there and with that she gets up from her stool and starts toward the hallway leader to the restrooms.

Clearing my throat, I stand up. "Excuse me, I'll be right back. Lady stuff," I add the last bit to keep him from getting up or questioning what I'm doing. Hurrying away I bite the inside of my lip. He probably thinks I'm on my period, great...

Stepping into the girls room, it smells of vanilla soap, the tile floors are surprisingly clean, all the white bathroom stalls are open and empty, and there isn't a single person in here besides the two of us. Lingenfelter leans back against the door, locking it, before stepping further into the rooms center nearing to where I am with an expressionless look on her face.

She's an older woman, probably in her late forties, with medium brown hair that is cut shorter in the front, not even passing her chin, but the back falls to her shoulder. She's dressed in a black pencil skirt, a white button-up blouse, and a black jacket pulled over it. Her sleek heels click with each step until she finally stops in front of me.

Lingenfelter watches me a moment. "As you must have already figured, I have come with a purpose. He sent me here to give something of value to you, protect this with you life, memorize it, and destroy it immediately. Understood?"

"I do," I say with a slight nod of the head. She reaches into a pocket that apparently exists in that jacket of hers and pulls out a ripped piece of notebook paper and hands it over to me. Stepping back, I unfold the sheet of paper and glance it over.

_S+HN^/(R)SA USB-98.05°SW:(*0115*):23_

To anyone else, this looks like a spur of numbers and nothing could possibly make sense of this but this is actually HYDRA communication system for undercover agents. It says Shay at high noon beware of remaining S.H.I.E.L.D. agents at underground base and that location in the South West at 1:15 AM on the 23rd, three days from now, for what, I'm not sure but most likely a mission of some sort.

Glancing over it quickly, I rip the paper apart and enter a stall, dropping the hundreds of shredded paper bits into toilet water, flushing them down when they all touch the water. Nodding to her as I pass, I step out of the restroom and walk back to where Steve Rogers resides, sipping on some liquid in a Styrofoam through a bright red straw.

Sitting down, I push the thoughts of what just happened to the back of my mind. There will be time for me to analyze the events that have just transpired in the last few minutes but until then I must remain in a calming, unhindered state of unknowing stupidity. If I don't play off the perfect tranquil state he'll most certainly know something is up and that would be bad for the plan.

Slowly but surely everything is coming together and while I'm still in the dark of what the true goal and mission that HYDRA has cooked up, I am apart of it and I shall help them with the best of my ability and when the time comes they will inform me of what I have been working towards. The only thing that I want to gain from all this is the safety guaranteed for my crew and I.

All the Avengers want is the information, not that they care about any of us. It's all a stunt, propaganda they're using to trick us into dueling out gain trust from us so we'll spill the details and after, we'll be eliminated, or locked away like animals in a laboratory. There's not a possibility that this will end up well for us if we take the good side of everything and so I picked a side.

Perhaps a side my crew doesn't know that they've been forced to take but nonetheless, we have a side and a goal to try for. A future awaiting us and I will protect them with my life.

"How about we catch that movie you were chatting on about?" I say, raising an eyebrow at him, the sooner we get one with this 'family-bonding' crud, the sooner I can get to work on what I need to do before my next meeting with Strucker.


	28. Tara Miss Fix-It

_Chapter Twenty-Eight: Tara Miss Fix-It_

**_Here we go with another chapter, only six chapters left until the short hiatus between the story to give you the readers a slight breather and for me to write more chapters and get them built up. Be sure to favorite this story and leave me comments on what you're most looking forward to seeing in the next half of the story._**

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Tara sits on the leather couch on our floor with the TV blaring like a drum, stinging my ears the second I step out of the elevator and onto the carpeted flooring. She doesn't seem notice me returning to the tower after my day trapped with Rogers, so I drop down on the seat beside her without much work to hide my presence. She yelps loudly, jumping about a foot or two in the air before lowering the sound on the television and glaring daggers at me with her honey brown eyes.

"What the hell Shay!? You could have given me a heart attack and it'd be all your fault! Plus black is totally not my color, it makes me look like a cow," she screams, scrunching her nose slightly in anger as she bracing a hand on her hip and tilts forward on her feet to loom over me. She's attempting to look intimidation but I think both she and I know that her attempt to strike fear of any kind in me isn't working like she'd hoped it would.

Raising an eyebrow at her I watch as she sighs, shakes her head, runs a hand through her long brown hair once she stops, and falls back on the couch beside me, letting her legs stretch out across the floor. Her hands are trembling from lack of tinkering, that much I can tell. Her eyes are bugged out from being unable to push her stress and anxiety into her work because we haven't been near tools or had the resources for her to use.

Now that we are here at the Avengers tower she has all the resources to perfect the devices that she has made over the years, make them better and work for longer periods of time. Besides, I know that she would much rather be doing that then sitting here pretending to care about what the Beverly Hill Housewives are up to. "Are you okay Tara? You seems stressed and jumpier than usual," I ask, despite myself knowing she isn't.

"Yeah, I'm fine it's just..." she trails off, shaking her head. "Not being able to work on new tech is really starting to get to me you know. That's how I mange my emotions, but preoccupying my time with science."

Pretending to think over what she said I tilt my head back and forth as if in thought before nodding my head. I rise to my feet and glance over at Tara who glances up at me with an eyebrow raised. "Come on, I have an idea that you're gonna like."

I can tell her interest is peaked because instead of responding, she rises to her feet and follows behind me as I led her towards the stairwell that leads upwards as well as downwards in the tower. We slowly descend down one flight after another in almost complete silence, the only sound being out feet occasionally slapping against the concrete stairs.

"Shay..." Tara whispers in the lowest murmur I think I've ever head from her as we near the floor I had every intention of taking us to. "What exactly is it that we're doing and why do you seem to think that I would like it?"

"It involves as well as combines two of your favorite things," I say quietly as we stop on the platform just outside of a gray metal door which is the destination that I am planning on breaking Tara and I into. "Creating new tech and perfecting old creations, and me doing something so rare, breaking rules and sneaking into a place that is off-limits to us."

Her eyes widen as I fall to my knees, bobby-pin in hand as I begin working on the lock, twisting the pin around for a few minutes trying to find the latch that holds the door closed.

"What is Shaylene actually breaking rules? Oh this is the best day ever, even better then then that time I wreaked that car because that little boy wouldn't stop calling me a bitch so I stole his mom's car and ran over his favorite toy!" she exclaims, biting back a laugh just at the doorknob clicks and instantly I know the door is unlocked but before we enter, Tara needs to take out the camera's.

"Tara, I need you to loop the camera with the last record images so no one gets suspicious of what we're up to and besides, it'd spoil the surprise of what ever you decide to make and I have a few ideas that you might like," I say, rising to my feet and stepping back as Tara pulls open the power box to the room and plays around with the wires to the camera I assume before nodding to herself and closing the door to the power box.

"There we go," Tara says, more to herself then to me. She turns and nods, "should be good to go. If anyone checks in on this room it'll only appear how it was before we entered."

Curling my fingers around the doorknob, I twist, and push the door open to reveal a workshop with rows of metal tables lined with tools and metal slabs and pieces of tech like blades, cuffs, bolts, and other pieces that I don't know anything about. Polished concrete floors reflect light off them from the fixtures overhead, boxes of tools lay scatters across various tables and seemed as if they hadn't be touched in a while.

Glancing over I see Tara mesmerized by all the things that she love so very much, not that I can complain. Her love of technology has helped up out in many millions of ways so as long as she is helping all of us, I'm perfectly fine with her indulging her time in aspirations that could potentially help my team and HYDRA so that they hold up their end of the bargain.

I close the door once Tara and I step through the doorway, locking it behind me as I do before crossing the floor to lock every other door throughout this large rectangular workshop, watching as Tara steps from one tabletop of supplies to the next, stunned and amazed by every sleek new piece of hard where when she only had cruddy hand-me-downs and old, retired pieces that I'd find here and there.

"Ooh!" she exclaims, trying to keep her excitement at bay but failing to do so effectively. By the time I reach where she has moved to, in her hands she holds up a star and flat-headed screwdriver, a wrench, a bag of bolts, a welder machine resting on her arm with the cord is wrapped around her wrists, nearing the edge of her fingertips.

"Shay, I think I need help. An AA meeting might do me some good," she replies softly, stepping towards an empty work bench, setting all the objects down on the tabletop before looking back at me. "You said you had a few ideas that I might like, what are they?"

Reaching into my pocket I pull out a small cylinder machine that I had used to sneak out with Tarben only a few days ago and set it down on the table so she can examine it again. She picks up the device in one hand, spinning it around to examine every aspect of the machine before placing it back down on the tabletop. "The Static Scrambler, why would you want this updated?"

"I think it's an amazing device that would be useful in the event that we or anyone else ever needed to scramble signals from electronic devices, the only problem is, as you already know, these devices only work once. I know that you could never fix this and your other devices before due to the lack of proper equipment but now you have access so you can make everything better."

Shrugging, she leans back against the table. "What the hell? Might as well while everyone doesn't know about it because I doubt that Stark would want me messing around with tech down here. So as long as you can sneak me down here, I'll work on fixing up this device, but tell me one thing... you really want this fixed so we can break out don't you?"

"Not necessarily, but if the need ever arises for us to have to escape, then I think it would be best to be prepared, wouldn't you agree?" I ask, making sure my tone gives nothing away.

"Thanks for telling me, now get out of the way so I can get to work," Tara said, waving me away as she turns to face the work table. Pulling a rolling chair back towards a wall far from Tara near a corner so she won't be able to see what I'm doing. Pulling out a a small circular device that slowly open up into a star shaped communication device, courtesy of Wolfgang Von Strucker.

Pushing a red button in the center of the device it flashes as it begins to connect with Strucker from HYDRA's main base. This device is specifically designed for undercover HYDRA operatives such as myself to keep in contact with our leaders when out of the bases. I may not know much about HYDRA, their plans, and what their main goals are for the future, it doesn't change the facts.

After looking around the room, I see a bathroom door beside me so I quickly rise t my feet, hiding the device, and hurry inside the bathroom. Locking the door behind me and locking myself in on of the many stalls for just an ounce more privacy. The button continues to flash a few more times before I hear his voice sound from the other side of the comm.

"Are you alone? You know how dangerous it is to contact me from inside the tower," Wolfgang Von Strucker says over the comm as I let out a low, humorless laugh. Of course I know how dangerous this is, especially with Tara in the other room but I needed him to be aware of what will transpire over the next few days before I meet with him in person.

"I have Tara working on an updated version of the device I used to leave the tower the last time, she will probably be able to complete it either tonight or by the end of the day tomorrow. In fact, depending on what other devices she ends up creating, I will take a look into to see if the tech could provide any new ideas for HYDRA to expand your weapon base," I say, leaning back against one of the stall walls.

"Do you really think she has the means and any sort of tech that HYDRA cannot make for itself?" he responds slowly, as if testing me but I keep myself calm and respond in a similar tone.

"Absolutely, Tara is almost as smart as Tony Stark is so she would be an asset to HYDRA but it would be best to keep her in the dark as of now and I'll sneak out certain weapons that I think HYDRA would like to test out for themselves. It could open a whole new playing field for HYDRA and allow us to take down the remaining agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and the Avengers in one go."

"Hmm... Your slowly but surly gaining the trust of HYDRA, if you keep up the good work, I may have to instate you as one of my close intel, and strategy planners, see you soon," with that the line goes dead and I slip the device back into my pocket one it shrinks back to its normal form. Opening the bathroom door, I slip from the stall and head back the way I entered.

Tara leans over a metal work bench completely absorbed in her work, tinkering away with scraps of metal, bolts, a blow torch to her left. She spins something on the top of the device as I drop back down on the chair in the corner of the room. Glancing up at the clock, time seems to fade away as I listen to the sound of sheet metal and power tools.


	29. Lost Beneath Sinking Tides

_Chapter Twenty-Nine: Lost Beneath Sinking Tides_

**_I took forever to get around to writing this chapter, have no idea why but hey, no one would really know that besides me. This chapter is going to be interesting and interconnecting with chapter thirty-one. Anyways be sure to favorite this story and leave me comments on what you like and think will be happening in future updates._**

* * *

**Flashback:**

_Tan high heels click loudly down a nearly empty brick-wall hallway as I trail behind, eyes fixed to the plain cement flooring, mesmerized by her shoes. Those cannot be comfortable to wear for long periods of time, especially not with the amount of walking she does during an average day, I will never wear those things, I'd probably end up breaking something._

_She came to escort me to the labs, I shutter. Of all the places that I could be taken to, the labs have to be there very worst, always awful, painful, and ends up with me bruised or bleeding. Needles everywhere, in my wrist, elbow, and sometimes in my leg for a more, how did he word it, 'reliable' sample. Sometimes I am escorted places by the person here I hate the most, a man of course._

_He scares me, hurts me, and there's nothing I can do about it. Says awful things to me, like how I'm worthless, not worth the times of day, or honorable enough to share the same DNA as Captain America. However, the woman escorting me today is one of my favorite people here, she often leaves for various days or weeks but comes back more often than she has to just to see me._

_She pushes open the large double doors and steps aside, waving me in which I reluctantly oblige. It smells of bleach and other burning scents of cleansers, like someone frantically cleaned here recently. A metal table is bolted down in the center of the room and without having to be told, I cross the now sleek metal floor and sit down on the tabletop and wait for them to arrive._

_His voice is low and gruff but I recognize it as the one person who I'm the most scared of, my nerves are on edge but I keep still and attempt to control my heartbeat and expression calm and collected. He crosses the room with someone else at his side, someone who I can tell who they are without even glancing up from my feet but I know better than to do so._

_"Good afternoon Shaylene, I trust you slept well?" I nearly jump at his voice, that's how skittish the man has made me. All I'm waiting for is the snap, when he yells at me, gets angry, tells me how worthless I am._

_"Y-yes," my voice comes out wobbly and frail, so unlike myself. This is how being close in proximity to him makes me, the sooner I get this net testing down, the sooner I will be taken back to my room._

_Pain strikes through down my neck and around my face as his hand grips my throat tightly as he forced my head up so that I can stare into his dark, emotionless eyes that are like an endless void of terror. He scowls down at me like I'm stupid and he'd rather be anywhere else than here, dealing with me. I wish he would be anywhere else._

_"Sir, you left out sir and you look at whoever is speaking to you, is that understood?" he growls out in a way that warns against challenging his authority, I open my mouth to speak but cower out at the last minute. My eyes want to break away, to look anywhere else but at him but if I dare to move he will hurt me, I'm already having a hard time breathing as it is with his grip around my throat._

_He shakes me back and forth like as his hand tightens around my throat, I can't breath, I wrap my hands around his wrist on my throat as tears fill my eyes, mouth falls open in attempt to get any air. My lungs burn, they're on fire and there is nothing I can do about it as the world begins to spin and a throbbing sensation erupts in my head._

_"Maybe I should just get rid of you and start all over again, end up with a creation that I actually wanted rather than an ignorant girl who cannot follow the simplest of orders, commands, and regulations," he responds, narrowing his eyes._

_"That is quite enough Sir," I hear the shrill voice of the woman who escorted me in, I figured she'd left when he and the other man had arrived, perhaps she'd stepped out of the room and re-entered when she heard the commotion. He releases my throat and I fall to the floor on my hand and knees, coughing my lungs out and literally gasping for air._

_My body trembles in sheer fear as I crawl back, putting a good amount of distance between he and I, well as much as I can in this room. I glance up to see him turn to her.  
_

_"Are you forgetting that I rank higher than you?" he asks, glaring at her but she stands her ground, placing her hands on her hips and glares back at him with just as much fury behind her eyes that she hides better than he. _

_"No but this," she motions to me and what just transpired, at this I drop my gaze back to the floor. "Is not what a man of your rank should be doing, I do not care whether or not you or anyone else ranks higher than me. I will not allow you to suffocate an innocent girl because of your ill-temper and lack of control. She will be escorted back to her room by me and this test will be postponed to a later date."_

_She is followed by the sound of her high heel foot steps and when I see a hand outstretched to me, I know she's the one standing in front of me. Glancing up my gaze dances over her features as I look up at the beautiful face of..._

* * *

"Shay!" I hear someone scream into my ear while wading through the darkness of my mind. My eyes flutter open, pushing myself into a sitting position I glance over to see Tara standing just behind the back of the couch, casually leaning over it. Her brown hair falls over her shoulders in long straight locks, she narrows her brown eyes at me like she's trying to determine what I'm thinking.

Shaking my head, I run a hand over my messy blond hair in attempt to fix it after falling asleep on the couch in the living room on the floor we've been assigned to. Shifting my body around to face her I yawn, stretching out my arms before looking up at her.

"What going on Tara?" I ask, my voice is lower than usual and shakier and Tara seems to notice this as she steps around the couch, sitting down beside me. Her eyes are filled with what I can only assume is concern.

"Are you alright Shay? You were screaming in your sleep and said a few things under your breath, I couldn't make out what you said but based on how you acted, must not have been anything good," she replies, glancing away slightly like she's stepped over so invisible boundary drawn in the sand that I had no idea where even there to begin with.

"I'm fine," I reply, we both know it's a lie but she doesn't call me out on it, it an unspoken agreement in my team. When someone has a nightmare, ask them if they're okay and if they say they're fine, leave it be. Even if we both know it's a lie because clearly they don't want to talk about it, eventually they'll come to me and tell me what they dreamed about but I let them work through it first.

"Here, I finished up that device while you were sleeping. In fact, it's about a million times better and why I hadn't thought about using a stabilizing agent before now is beyond me, figured that I could use a rotating belt to stabilize the energy as well as power the machine," she said, subtly slipping me the nearly paper flat device with a slight bubble in the center, probably where the power source it.

"How does it work?" I ask, lowering my voice and scooting closer to her, just in case Tony Stark reactivated the camera's on our floor.

"That bump in the middle has all the tech but it's also an activation button, you press down on the top with your thumb and press it against a controller to deactivate it and everything connected to it's mainframe. Some of my best work I think, well after my precious energy whips that is," she smirks, winking at me. She rises to her feet and waves goodbye.

Getting up I glance over at her. "Where are you going?"

"Tony invited me to join him in his lab, one that I don't have to break into so I agreed, Oh! Nathan also told me to tell you that he won't be here at the tower for a few days, Natasha Romanoff is taking him to some place to help him with his spy skills," the elevator door closes on her before she gets the chance to finish her sentence but that's all I needed to know.

Every one of my team, except Tarben is getting to close to the Avengers and I don't even want to say anything to the one who makes up my DNA. How can my life get any worse? Wait, where's Nick Fury, I haven't seen him since before when I overheard him speaking with the Avengers about their progress with us, maybe that's what has me on edge.

Rather than take the elevator and alerting him to my presence I decide to swing by Tara's bedroom and swipe a bobby pin from her stuff, slipping it into my pocket and use the stairs instead. If I use the stairs he will hear the sound of the door opening and me stepping out so keeping silent is the best way to go, it would give him to much time to hide what he's doing the other way.

It's silent when I reach the floor where his secret office is, slipping into the hallway from the doorway by the stairs I tread down the hall towards the room at the end of the walkway where his office door resides. Reaching for the door handle, I drop it and press my ear to the door instead to see what's going on before entering into who knows what.

"What do you mean you don't know!? This ain't a damn episode of _Lost_," Nick Fury shouts in his deep, usually neutral voice. He sounds super pissed kind of like...

**_"No one wants you, no one but us and he, if he ever found out about you, do you really think he'd want to know you, he's young and would rather live a normal life, not deal with you. We're all you've got so for once in your pathetic existence so being such a fuck-up!"_**

I curl my arms around myself, closing my eyes tightly, shaking my head so hard it hurts. Trying to make the memories go away and when I open my eyes again I sigh, knowing that it's not gonna work. Pressing my ear back against the door, I try to keep my thoughts focused on Nick Fury's voice and not the other person who always haunts my thoughts.

"—thing I did to..." his voice lowers, the sound is muffled by the door, inhibiting me for hearing what he says for a while and I start to get anxious, what could he possibly be angry about? "Keep me posted Agent, Fury out."

Just as I'm about to step towards the stairwell, the door opens and Nick Fury steps out, his black eye patch covering his eye, black leather trench coat, dark top and dress pants. He looks at me with his one good eye. "What did you hear?" is all he asks.

"Nothing, I just got here but I wanted to speak to you," I reply, raising my head slight, holding my ground. He nods for me to go on. "Something didn't sit right with me, when you said Maria Hill was in a hospital with a broken leg. You lied, not that I'm surprised or even care. She's missing isn't she, how long? How long has she been missing and what about that," I nod to the office door. "Something must have happened."

He glares at me before stepping about a foot away from me, leaning forward, he attempts to intimidate me but I keep my calm demeanor even when I'd rather turn and scurry away, especially with my nightmare still replying through my head like a movie on repeat.

"Something you didn't seem to get from Rogers is minding your own business and you should really learn how to do that. There are things that you aren't supposed to know about and this is one of them. Leave it alone Shaylene Rogers."

"Don't," I growl, narrowing my eyes and speak deathly slow. "Ever. Call. Me. That."

He sidesteps me and heads towards the elevator, obviously thinking that I won't be able to break into his office, the second the elevator door closes and I hear it move upwards, I immediately pull the bobby pin free, unlocking the door in less than five seconds, I'm getting freakishly good at lock picking, and step into the dark room.

On top of a stack of papers on his desk, I see an dark iPhone resting on top of the stuff and reach for it when I approach the desk. Sliding the unlock bar I see a text message, press read, and pale at the three worlds the message holds.

To: Nick Fury

From: Melinda May

COULSON'S BEEN COMPROMISED


	30. High Risk Behavior

_Chapter Thirty: High Risk Behavior_

**_Here we go with the next chapter about Shay and her secret little endeavors and trust me, these are gonna be some pretty epic chapters, only five chapters left until the mini-hiatus in between the story, there will be at least 22 chapters following the hiatus so don't think it's super close to the ending. Anyways, make sure to favorite this story and leave comments._**

* * *

Brock Rumlow leads me through a dark, dank tunnel towards a large overarching doorway which leads to Strucker, or at least I assume so, where else could he be leading me besides to him. Over my shoulder I hold a book bag filled with plans I've made, a few limited devices that Tara made awhile ago, nothing to top notch or something HYDRA would be able to replicate, and a general layout of the tower.

Everytime he leads me to this private office on the otherside of the facility, I feel like it's a much longer walk that it was the time before. Maybe it is, like all the hallways just switch and changed based on the frequency of use. Or maybe it's just me feeling strange inside this communication and planning strategy room that's so far away from all the other rooms within the building. Yeah, I nod to myself, that's probably why.

Opening a door, Rumlow waves me into the room where I see Strucker sitting in a chair, glancing up at a computer screen showing a cage with two people side by side but it two separate cages, one bounces around the room like lightning, and the other is a woman with messy brown hair with red energy flowing out from her hands, moving a block with her power.

Saying nothing, I step forward and stop at the desk, sitting down the the seat just as the door slams shut loudly behind me. Strucker doesn't turn around but instead continues watching the people on the screen.

"These are the test subjects," is all he says before spinning around, pressing a button on his desk, and the screen soon fades to black as he looks up at me. "I'd tell you more but I need to gain more trust in you before that can happen."

Nodding obediently, I speak. "Understood Sir, I have however brought a few items that may interest HYDRA and the rest of her interests and if I may, I would love to help you formulate plans to take out the Avengers in one go. They are formidable enemies and I think having an insides perspective may help with your overall battle strategy."

Strucker narrows his eyes at me. "Are you implying that I don't know what I'm doing?"

"No," I shake my head, smiling up at him. "I'm simply saying that as a clone of Captain America, I am skilled in battle strategies and if you'd like to use my skills in such fields to your advantage, I'd be happy to comply."

He narrows his eyes at me, trying to decide if I speak the truth or am simply saying what he wants to hear. Finally he nods his head, obviously deciding my words are true. Sitting down in a leather chair across from me, he speaks. "Then tell me what you've got child."

Reaching down into the sleek black purse I'd brought along, I pull out a small little pin with beautifully intricate design scrawled into the sleek metal cover. Placing in on the tabletop, I slide the pin to Strucker. He examines it, not daring to touch it with his hands. As if I would be the sort of person to booby trap a simple pin to wear on ones suit.

"Go ahead and touch it, nothing will happen," I reply casually. Strucker narrows his eyes.

"What is it that this... device does? To me it seems like a decoration piece rather than a useful weapon for HYDRA," he sneers, turning his nose up at me before adjusting his monocle.

I feel a ghostly essence of a smirk cross my lips before vanishing just as quickly as it came. "It's a tech-disrupter. This baby has the ability to disable any technology within a mile radius of the sound wave it gives off. Luckily Tara managed to make the sound impervious to human ears so it won't alert anyone, especially not the Avengers."

"Really?" Strucker asks, raising a single eyebrow up at me.

Nodding instantly, I flash a grin. "Tara's good at what she does, it's just not something we've had much use for in my team. If HYDRA plans of acquiring anymore items from Avengers Tower though, it might make it easier to have this."

Strucker finally reaches down and picks up the device, examining it for a moment before setting it back down on the table. Reaching into my bag, I pull out a circular Holographic Viewer. "This isn't as exciting as that," I nod my head towards the pin. "But it is valuable in its own right. This device can scan any item and collect an accurate analysis of what is it, the abilities it has, and the parts into it. Currently I have only provided a detail map of Avengers Tower for you."

He leans closer to me as I press the button on the front and watch as it glows a dull blue before the image pops up from the view finder in the center of the device. It's a 3D model of Avengers Tower made of a blue glowing light.

"Much like S.H.I.E.L.D.'s viewers, this one is portable and it is also similar to a touch screen, it makes it much easy to use in places where you wouldn't want to see suspicious. There's also a functioning voice commanding system too if it's preferred. You can point to which room or location you want to do, tap it twice, and the hologram will rearrange itself to show that specific section of the tower."

"Interesting, truly a work of scientific genius. Did Tara suspect anything?" Strucker asks, tearing his gaze away from the device in front of us to give me a once over in questioning.

"No, so long as she thinks that repairing and improving these devices is her idea then she won't really question what she's doing. She's my dearest friend, but I can outsmart her," I reply, searching the bag again for the next item I brought along. "And most importantly, I brought this."

Placing a small watch-like device on the table, Strucker looks to me in question. "A watch? Really?"

Shooting him a look, I shake my head. "No, not a watch. This looks like one because it's less suspicious. It's actually a locating device that is directly locked unto the DNA signature of the the Avengers within the tower. This will allow you to know exactly where they are at any second of the day. That way you can avoid them all together and your plans can go off without a hitch."

"What plan's do you refer to?" he asks, suddenly interested in me.

"Any that you've planned or are currently planning. But I must say that not knowing what you need inhibits my ability to calculate a plan of attack," before he responds, I raise my hands and press on. "And I know that you don't trust me with the information yet, but perhaps you could simply give me small bits and pieces to help you plan strategies."

"Hmm," he taps his finger against his chin in though before letting it fall to his side. "Maybe I can test you to prove your loyalty to HYDRA. Not right away of course, and you won't be aware that it's a test."

"I'm more than happy to accept this," I reply, my gaze never leaving his. I don't want him to have a reason to doubt my loyalties and looking away would not represent that positively.

Suddenly Strucker straighten up like a iron rod, his eyes as wide as a fifty-cent piece. A smooth smile glides across his lips and weave into a crooked, misshapen sort of grin. "I have an idea. A test of sorts, there will still be more, ones that you aren't aware of. From now until I say so, you should consider everything a test."

"What do you need me to do?"

"Come with me," is the only answer I get. Obediently, I rise from the chair I'm sitting in and follow Strucker from the room. He leads me down a long narrow hallway, barely lit. It gives off an eerie feeling that doesn't sit well with me, it's like in a scary movie and the main character goes into the dark creepy basement on the old house and you know that there's something down there and warn her not to, but she does it anyways because it's only a movie.

Well, it's like that only instead, this is reality. My brain works overtime attempting to figure out what Strucker is planning on having me do for him to prove my loyalties to HYDRA. A thousand and one things come to mind and unfortunately none of them sit well with me, my stomach is queasy just thinking about all the ruthless things I might have to do. I've always preferred to be more peaceful by nature by my life hasn't exactly granted me the luxury of doing so.

For me, it's always been a battle just for existing. As if it's my fault for what they... he did and it wasn't. I never asked to be created in that creepy laboratory like the freak of nature that I am, but it was their fault not mine.

* * *

_"Get up!" his voice rings loudly across the training simulation floor. Even with my head down, gaze directed down at the sleek metal floor, I know exactly where he stands. On the medium sized platform on the right side of the room, both hands braces on the railing. She's standing by his side, I can feel her solemn eyes staring calmly at me while if looks could burn, his would._

_My heart pounds rapidly in my chest and for one second I hope I'll get lucky. That maybe I'll get a heart attack and die, right here and now. in front of everyone that watching behind the one way glass. I sigh. Unfortunately, I'm not that lucky and my DNA is supposed to be perfection, that won't be the means to set me free from my own personal hell._

_I can see my reflection in the glass. Long blond hair cascading down around my face in damp strands. Bright blue eyes that could catch just about anyone's attention if I wanted to. Pale, flawless skin like that of the beautiful models I've seen at the picture shows. I'm not one of them, they simply play the damsel in distress, I really am one and no one's coming to save me. I am going to have to save myself._

* * *

Shaking the memory back into the recesses of my mind, I pay attention as Strucker starts to speak. I catch every word and attempt to puzzle in anything that I've already missed.

"—found some agents of that pesky S.H.I.E.L.D. that may be able to help HYDRA with our mission. We've been needing someone to interrogate them and you just what we needed."

Flashing the widest smile I can managed, I nod eagerly. "Of course. I'm honored that you would entrust such a responsibility onto me. I won't let you down, I'll have them squeal anything and everything."

He hands me an earpiece which I put in my ear immediately. He steps away from the door and motions for me to enter. Once I do, I'm not prepared for what I see when I do. Two containers brightly lit. One with an injured Maria Hill and beside her Phil Coulson.

Melinda May's text message flashes across my mind.

PHIL COULSON'S BEEN COMPROMISED. Yeah, no kidding...


	31. Double Mocking Spies

_Chapter Thirty-One: Double Mocking Spies_

**_Here we go, there's only four more chapters left until the mid-series hiatus for this story. There still a lot that's gonna happen in this series for the next duration and during this hiatus I'm gonna be using that time to write out the next cluster of chapters that will propel the next half of the story to itsconclusion. Can you believe that we're already at 31 chapters and there still over twenty to go!_**

**_ Oh and I want to say sorry about the long wait for this chapter but I haven't finished writing the last four chapters in this half of the story so I'm having to writing them now at last minute and I've been really busy with school and it's taking it toll. I'm also sorry about not having Panic's story updated yet when I'm so close to the ending but I'm gonna try to get that chapter finished and posted so lets hope for the best._**

**_Anyways be sure to favorite and comment and hopefully everything will work out in our favor!_**

* * *

**Previously:**

_Shaking the memory back into the recesses of my mind, I pay attention as Strucker starts to speak. I catch every word and attempt to puzzle in anything that I've already missed._

_"—found some agents of that pesky S.H.I.E.L.D. that may be able to help HYDRA with our mission. We've been needing someone to interrogate them and you're just what we needed."_

_Flashing the widest smile I can managed, I nod eagerly. "Of course. I'm honored that you would entrust such a responsibility onto me. I won't let you down, I'll have them squeal anything and everything."_

_He hands me an earpiece which I put in my ear immediately. He steps away from the door and motions for me to enter. Once I do, I'm not prepared for what I see when I do. Two containers brightly lit. One with an injured Maria Hill and beside her Phil Coulson._

_Melinda May's text message flashes across my mind._

_PHIL COULSON'S BEEN COMPROMISED. Yeah, no kidding..._

* * *

**Present:**

Maria Hill narrows her eyes at me as I step further into the room. Stopping just a couple of feet back from both cages, I stand in the middle to I can see both Maria and Phil Coulson on both sides. Maria Hill's brown hair is ratted up like she took a weed wacker to it while Coulson is battered and bruised purple like a grape still on the vine.

One of his eyes is swollen shut, his clothes are torn and tattered, and his lip is busted. Clearly the odds were not in his favor.

"Shaylene Rogers, working with HYDRA. Why am I not surprised?" Maria asks, her voice void of any emotion, just a touch of a actualization. As if she expected this from me a long time ago.

"And Maria Hill, the left-hand woman of Nick Fury, behind bars. Just like you should be."

She glares but doesn't respond.

Phil Coulson makes his way towards the clear glass wall dividing us. He runs a hand absentmindedly over the glass as if expecting to find a chip in it or a scratch to exploit into an escape. "Shay... Why are you doing this?"

His voice rattles me to the core, he sounds so broken, so... defeated. I don't like it. Never mind that, I've always been good at playing face, so I do what I do best and fake it. Pretend that it doesn't strike a cord deep in my soul, in my heart. Phil Coulson may have been Nick Fury's right-hand man who was always his most trusted agent, but Coulson was nice to me.

Never pressured me for information like Nick Fury did when he needed information to make his own clones, never looked at me with scorn in his eyes like I wasn't worth anything like Maria Hill, or every pretended to be anything he wasn't, like everybody else in S.H.I.E.L.D. did. Like the SSR did, like HYDRA does. He was just himself, he was always honest and if he couldn't tell me something, he'd say that S.H.I.E.L.D. was the reason he couldn't.

* * *

**Flashback:**

_Nick Fury left the interrogation room in blind fury when I evaded answering any question related to my creation. I can't let him do that to any one else, no one should have to be a freak of nature like me. I know he's already done it though, I can hear one at night, bawling her eyes out. he low whimpers and sniffling travel __into the__  
__containment cell and I feel the urge to find her, to console her, to tell her that it's alright._

_It's not, that's a lie, but it'd make her feel better for the time being. Thinking back before I was woken up in this new time, I remember how much I wanted someone there to console me, to rub my back, to whisper into my ear, to make me feel safe. No one ever did that for me, I know parents are supposed to do that, but the only parent I know of is my father and he's been dead for a long time._

_There was one woman who would help me when I was on the verge of a mental breakdown but she was wishy-washy. Hardly ever there for me like I've heard mother's are supposed to do. She's not my mother though, he told me that. Told me that my 'mother' as I'd choose to label her was simply an agent of the SSR who simply donated her egg for scientific advancements and she didn't care about me._

_That it's was the same as donating a nonessential body part. Who would do something like that though, to give their DNA away for i o be turned into a child or scientific advancement. What monster would be comfortable enough to allow something like that to happen. Is that all I am? I shake my head, banishing the thought immediately. Only I get to decide what I'm worth, no one else._

_My thoughts are halted immediately when I hear the door whoosh open again. Hesitantly, I turn around and expect to face Nick Fury again, but instead I see a man in a sleek black suit with a red tie._

_Phil Coulson, the right-hand man to the one who has me trapped here like a caged bird. He flashes a warm smile my way and takes a seat across the metal table from me. Sheepishly, he reaches into his coat pocket and pulls out a deck of cards._

_"Here, you can have those..." he trails off as the deck of cards glides silently across the table and into my resting hands. "Play a game of... solitaire. Maybe cars wasn't the best idea for that game."_

_I narrow my eyes at him, not allowing myself to fall into someone else's tricks. "What's your goal? Why did Mr. Fury send you in here for, did he think that sending you in here would change my mind about answering those questions of his?"_

_Phil Coulson just stares a me a moment before shaking his head wildly. His hands wave rapid like a cartoon character with his protest. "No, no, no. Mr. Fury doesn't even know I'm in here, so don't tell him or I may just loose my job. Ha ha!"_

_I raise an eyebrow in confusion. _

_He give a sigh. "Well... You're no fun are you? What's your name?"_

_"Shaylene..." I reply slowly, gauging his reaction and am surprised when once doesn't appear._

_He hold out a hand to me, the warm smile falls back over his features. "Well, it's nice to meet you Shaylene."_

* * *

**Present:**

"I'm doing this for my friends, because we have never been able to live in peace with S.H.I.E.L.D.'S interference and the Avenger's discovery. Nick Fury isn't helping either. My job is to protect my teammates and best friends and that's exactly what I'm gonna do, not matter the cost."

A grimace crosses Phil's face as Maria's scowls. "I understand that, but this... this isn't you. You're not the type to work under HYDRA and all the evil things that they're doing to the free world," he pleads with me.

"Oh?" I ask in mock."Like what you're doing with S.H.I.E.L.D.? Hiding the truth from the world because in your eyes they aren't 'ready' to know the truth. Who are you, S.H.I.E.L.D., Nick Fury, even the Avengers to decide what the public is capable to knowing. I'm not working _under_ HYDRA no, I'm working with HYDRA for a mutual agreement."

"Strucker isn't going to keep his word, you know that right? With the amount of power you and that team or your possess, there's now way he's going to let you walk free when you're a threat to your empire" Maria speaks finally. Her eyes narrow at me in contempt.

I shrug my shoulders. "Then it seems both you and he have that in common. At least he wasn't one of those who has betrayed me more times then I can count. S.H.I.E.L.D. has burned its bridges with me and I've had it," I turn and walk towards the door where I entered. The earpiece in my ear shoots static before I make out Strucker's voice.

"Where are you going? You haven't gained any useful information!"

Pushing out of the room, I face him in the hallway and flash a knowing smile. "I got more information than you'd think. I have a plan that will be sure to set the Avengers spinning out like a plane stuck in a strong air current."

Strucker narrows his eyes at me as confusion displays across his face. "What do you have in mind?"

Grinning even wider, I lean closer and begin to tell him my plan, this is sure to get the Avenger's attention for sure.

* * *

**Nathan's POV:**

I duck at Natasha Romanoff sends a powerful roundhouse kick my way. Rolling out of the way, I spin my feel out like a propeller blade on a plan and sideswipe her feet out from under her. She catches herself last minute with one hand before whipping around and throwing a fist my way. Catching her hand I flip her off her feet, but she anticipates this.

Her foot connects with my chest sending me backwards. My back slams against the wall of the training room leaving me disoriented and my body throbbing lively with pain that can't be ignored. I'm off my game, I know it, and she knows it too. Deep in my bones I can feel that something is wrong, that something is being hidden from me and I don't know what. It's distracting and I hate distractions.

"What's bothering you?" Natasha's voice rips through the fog in my brain. Opening one eye, I look up at her. She keeps her face expressionless but does hold out a hand for me. Taking it, I heave myself up and barely manage to keep myself from wincing at the sudden pain that shoots through me like a lightning bolt running through my veins.

"I... I don't know," I answer honestly, still keeping my guard up. "Something just doesn't feel right."


	32. Trusting Miss America

_Thirty-Two: Trusting Miss America_

**_Okay, first of all I want to apologize about the delay in this chapter. I've been really busy and this semester is almost over so I'll have more time to work on chapters. I didn't have all 35 chapters finished when I started posting so I'm currently writing them when they're posted so yeah. Anyways, here's the next chapter so enjoy!_**

* * *

Thick blue clouds roll across a midnight sky, it's a new moon tonight so no light from the sun reflects across the grounds. The night is like a shadow for me to seamlessly glide through with an ease that surprises even myself. Stucker wants to test my loyalties, fine, I'll break into this base and steal the items he asked me to procure, nothing to it. I would have preferred a more physical mission with fighting because spy work's not really my expertise.

Nonetheless, I am trained highly in espionage and breaking into one of the most secure buildings in the United States shouldn't be that hard. What information could Strucker possibly want? A blueprint of a F-117 aircraft, so HYDRA could advance it even more and still retain a government legal aircraft that would cause suspicion. Personally I think having such an aircraft would be more noticeable, but that's just my opinion.

Then again, it wasn't my idea to begin with. Who am I to question Strucker's plan? He's obviously the head of HYDRA for a reason and there must be a reason for why he wants blueprints for this plane. Maybe it a special plane with a special purpose. I shake it off. Now's not the time to cloud my head with such nonsense, I'm here wit a job to do and I'm going to do it.

I watch in silence from beneath an armored military vehicle as a guard in a blue uniform crosses the threshold. As silent as a mouse, I glide up from beneath the truck and slip behind the guard. One hand clamping over his mouth while another one tightens around his neck, cutting off his oxygen supply. He thrashes wildly, like a spooked pig until he stops fighting and passes out.

Dragging his body, I tie his hands and feet together with a high-tech rope, courtesy of HYDRA, that's nearly indestructible. Slipping the access card from the pocket on his button up shirt, I leave him hidden in the shadow beneath the vehicle.

The access panel glows green when I swipe the card and opens automatically, no hassle made. Inside the building, the smell of bleach burns at my nostril, giving me a headache from first contact. Narrow my already night-adjusted eyes, I slowly make my way down the elongated hallway. The floor is cement and the walls are simple and gray I believe. It looks like an underground bunker that hasn't been used in many, many years.

All the walls are barren, not a single indication of difference in any of the hallways I pass. It looks identical, but I can tell. That's what I've been trained to do, tell the difference between places that are designed like a labyrinth. Their are specific marks on the cement floor, cracks, scuffs from moving heavy items, light stains that were hastily painted over.

Fatal mistakes that could cost them dearly, luckily for them, that's not my purpose for being here. When Stucker was going over the briefing, he'd mentioned that the blueprints were in former General Ross's old office. Apparently, he'd been promoted recently and they have yet to clear his office out yet. This is the last opportunity to get anything classified from the military base here.

After they clear the office, they're shutting this base down and relocating all personnel to the other bases within the area as this one has been here since the last thirties and is in dire need of remodeling. Voices of the other military men and women fill the area, but they're not nearby, actually, they're pretty far away. It's just how loud their voices are.

Rolling my eyes, I take the next left down another ridiculously long hallway and that's when I see it. A wooden door with black letters written on the blurred glass. General Thaddeus Ross. This is where I'll find the blueprints for that stupid plane. Reaching the door, I hesitate for a moment. There is no way that anyone here would leave this office unguarded or without some type of security measure. There must be a trap of some sort around here.

One thorough glance around the door is all that was needed for me to find the trap. On the top right corner of the door where it opens is a small circular device attached to the wall. It's an alarm system that will alert everyone within the compound if the door is opened without proper methods being used. It was to trick people like me, but unfortunately for them, I know exactly what I'm doing.

Taking in the surroundings, the window on the wall by the office draws me near. Outside is completely barren of any soldiers, perfect. Sliding the window open, I climb out onto the precarious stone siding and edge my way around to the window of the office.

Three inches of dust coated his office. It is honestly so thick with dust that I could choke on it, it's already hard to breathe as it is. There are two bookshelves in his offices, one on either side of the room. Research books about military plans and documentations, all behind the sheet of bullet proof glass with a lock and key. It's only there to fool thieves into believe that there's useful information hidden in it.

No. I instead go for the large desk in front of me. That's where the button to the secret room will be. That's where the files are stored and that's where I'll find the blueprints. Pulling a paperclip out of my pocket, I bend it and twist it into the lock on the middle drawer. At the sound of the low click, I pull the paperclip free and yank the drawer open. In the center was a bright red button.

Pressing it, I wait as the floor in the rooms center opens up to reveal a stone staircase that descends down into darkness. Taking a deep breath, and coughing it all back out a second after, I start down the stairwell.

The temperature drops with each step down I take. The air is damp and makes my skin crawl, but I don't halt my progress. There's only one extraction plan and the longer it takes me to get the blueprints, the more likely I am to be left behind and that would be bad for my cover. Reaching the bottom floor, I see all the papers and files lining the bookcases in the walls.

Piles of manila folders are laid on table tops and furniture spread around the room. Blueprints of various items are pinned to the wall in the front, behind another office desk with red pins pressed into it. Modification notes attached. Flipping through a multitude of files and after searching almost every surface imaginable, I finally find it in the drawer of the desk, all rolled up and in a plastic tube.

Shaking it, I hear something clattering inside. Popping the top off, I hold the open tube over my awaiting hand and am surprised to see a gold key fall into my palm. That's when it hits me and I feel stupid for not realizing it sooner. This is what Strucker wanted, not the blueprints, but this key. I don't know what for, however, it must be important.

Dropping the key back inside the tube, I reseal the cap and head back up the stairwell. Once closing everything back the way it was, I climb back through the window and use the fire escape beside the window to climb back to the ground. Everything is silent, I listen closely. Nothing, no footsteps, not voices chatting, just the sound of the breeze blowing the trees leaves.

Trudging forward through the dusty military base, I make my way through undetected. Seems they should reconsider their field if little old me can slip by without tipping off a single guard. Well, I shrug, except for that one under that armored vehicle, but I'll be long gone by the time anyone notices that he's missing. The moment I arrive at the extraction point, I see the four wheeled, armor jeep as it pulls to a stop beside me.

Behind the wheel is Brock Rumlow, all dressed up in his uniform. His supervillian cover I suppose, it looks kind of strange. _Not important right now Shaylene!_ My own thoughts scold me as I open the door and climb into the back seat where I'm surprised to see Strucker waiting for me. A smirk playing on his lips while his arms remain at ease by his side.

"Did you retrieve it?" Strucker asked the moment we were pulling farther away from the military base. Reaching down the collar of my shirt, I pull the plastic white tube out and hand it to him without hesitating. He glances down at the tube in his hand and smiles in my direction.

"I must say," he says after a moments silence. "I doubted that you would actually be able to retrieve this for me. I'm pleasantly surprised at your skill and cunning. It truly makes you a valuable asset to have on our side Shaylene."

"Now you know I'm more than I appear. I'm capable of anything you can throw at me..." I trail off a moment, letting a pause fill until I ask. "What happens now, what's the next step to defeating the Avengers?"

He laughs. "I am already aware that you took a sneak peak inside of this tube. You know about they key."

My heart hammers in my chest, but I steel myself to keep my nerves under control. Do not let anything show and keep calm. That's the best way to handle these type of situations.

"Are you mad?" I ask, there's not point in lying if he already knows.

Strucker shakes his head. "Of course not. I expected you to do just that when you found the tube instead of a rolled up blue paper. This key," he opens the tube and drops the key on his palm, "is what will keep the Avengers busy while I have you away on a special assignment. It'll keep them distracted while we set everything in motion."

"Care to elaborate?" I ask, keeping my voice monotone.

"We're going to be visiting a very special facility where former General Ross and the military keeps its most dangerous and supernaturally... gifted individuals. There's a woman there that will be just what we need."

He reaches under his seat and pulls out a folder and hands it to me without even looking. Flipping it open, I see a picture in the top right corner with a girl about thirty with electric blue hair and sharp green eyes with a scar down her cheek.

**ID: #521**

**Full Name: Alina Cambridge**

**Date of Birth: December 16, 1985**

**Analysis: Ms. Cambridge is very hostile and known for her hateful and vengeful nature. She is volatile and not good with others around her. She likes to pick fights with her fellow inmates and does not seem to value any sort of friendship and likes to irritate the guards, She's uncontrollable and that is why I have come to the recommendation that she should be kept in solitary confinement until it is determined if she will every be able to keep herself out of conflicting issues with those around her.**

"With this key..." Strucker says, glancing over at me with a smile on his face. "HYDRA will prevail and you and your friends will be free of the Avengers oppression. Together we will free the Siren."


	33. Rise of the Siren

_Chapter Thirty-Three: Rise of the Siren_

**_Alright, you all can be as angry as you want and I'll deserve it. After being gone so long and now updating, but trust me I haven't abandoned this fic, not way in hell. What I'm planning on doing is posting one chapter a month, at least. I may post more than that, but I'll give you all that. One chapter WILL be posted and I may post more when I can or feel like it, but that'll guarantee that you'll all at least have one chapter a month instead of a huge gap like before. Another thing was that it's been so long that I forgot what I wanted to happen with Shaylene. Like I have an outline and all, but it's just the basics so yeah... Anyways, comment below and favorite this if you like it! I'll be back with the next chapter soon! :D_**

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**Third Person POV:**

Downtown New York was busy and rather peaceful when the day started. The streets crowded with busy civilians going about their average day, some headed off to work, others going to a local coffee shop. Children prancing the sidewalk with their parents to shop for toys, however, the serenity was about to come to an end when a loud shriek filled the lively city.

It sounded like a million shrill cries of birds, the intensity of the pitch sending most of the civilians down on their knees. Clutching desperately at their ears, trying to block the horrible sound penetrating into their brains. The ground shook from the vibrations of the sound and suddenly, all the glass windows in every nearby building shattered into thousands of pieces scattered across the area.

The sound died and when the city recovered, fear overwhelmed them as the people looked up to see a woman standing in the middle of the street. Her hair was electric blue and choppy hacked around her chin. She wore a black leather uniform with blue sleeves that were reminiscent of her hair and her waist was wrapped in the same blue color before mixing into the black.

Her scarlet lips curled in a sinister smirk as she stared at the wide-eyed, fearful glanced of the residence of New York City. There's a certain kick Alina Cambridge got from seeing the fear in their eyes.

Thanks to her two... special visitors, Alina was now free of the chains that held her. The only thing they asked in return was to keep the puny Avenger occupied for awhile so they don't think about the young blond girl that was with Strucker. Such a low price to pay for her freedom. Now Alina held HYDRA in rather high regards, the kept their promise after all.

Wolfgang Von Strucker even gave her the means to distance herself from the facility she was held, by giving her a specially designed motorcycle that was her to keep and do with as she pleased.

"Good morning you pathetic things, I am Siren and I think it's far to peaceful here. Looks like I'll have to fix that," Siren took a deep breath and let out a second shrill cry that cracked the pavement road beneath her feet and caused a couple cares to explode in her wake.

"I don't think so," came a new voice from behind her. The Siren turned and her grin seemed to extend even wider at the sight of them.

The Avengers in all their glory.

Captain America stood at the front, Iron Man floating behind him, Black Widow to the Captain's left, Hawkeye to the right, Thor was floating above them, and Bruce Banner was nowhere to be seen. More than likely he was around, just waiting for his cue. Not getting involved unless the need arises.

"Hehe, ah, the Avengers. Took you long enough, don't ya think?" she asks, her tone clipped at the second half. "What terrible response time you all have. I could have killed anyone of these worthless humans before you got here if I so desired. Tsk, tsk, but superheroes are always the real villains."

"How about we shut up the street shrieker already?" Iron Man suggested, rolling his eyes.

And like that, the battle begun. Hawkeye notched his arrows, Black Widow pulled out a pair of guns, Thor had his hammer ready, Captain America held his shield, and everything went to hell.

The Siren managed to duck and dodge everything the Avengers threw at her. She seemed to be some type of background in acrobatics, she was flexible and able to bend her body in ways that with destroy the minds of most doctors. She avoiding bullets and arrows, tossing throwing knives back at the former assassin and arrow shooter. Captain America couldn't get close enough to do any damage.

She somehow could avoid his shield like it was a thrown Frisbee.

"Is this the best you've got. The might Avengers can't defeat little old me? How you managed to save New York the first time is preposterous," The Siren laughed, mocking them. She was trying to frustrate them, she knew she would be defeated by them, but Strucker anticipated that and was planning to have her extracted during transport.

That's why it didn't bother her at all, she wasn't really taking this fight seriously.

Chaos had erupted among the people of New York though, couples and families were in hysterics, running away from the battle field. None of them wanting to be caught in the middle of the super-powered skirmish.

Iron Man zoomed around one of the buildings, firing a ray of energy at the Siren who merely rolled out of the way, kicked up off the ground, and scaled up until she was on top of a transport truck for Lays chips. The beam collided with an empty car parked by the sideways, exploding into a mass of orange flames and consuming the Boutique Shop that was across from the vehicle.

"Stellar work there, hero," she says snarkly, sarcasm evident as Alina breaks out in a slow clap. "You know, I'm sure that elderly lady and hr granddaughter will be very happy that you've destroyed their livelihood."

"Damn it..." Iron Man hisses behind the mask of his armor. He hadn't meant to do that, but something wasn't right about this woman. She didn't seem to care about really fighting them. It felt off, like she was distracting them. "Hey Cap."

"Yeah, I feel it too," Captain American responds, his blue eyes focused on the Siren.

"What about you Thor, God of Thunder and whatnot, aren't you going to summon your holy bolt of lightning to strike me down where I stand?"

"The lady is trying to anger us," the Asgardian warrior states, landing beside Captain America and Iron Man. His hammer held firmly in his grasp, he knew he couldn't summon lightning in an area as populated as this. Not without some casualties that is.

"What is it that you're after?" the Black Widow asks, already grasping what the other members of her team had figured. The Siren wasn't doing this because she wanted to, she had another intention. She was the distraction from the much bigger picture.

"Let's just say that it's right under your nose Avengers, maybe if you looked closer you'd be able to figure it out, ha!"

Alina takes in a breath and releases in in one go, the vibration shaking the world. Black Widows guns broke apart from the sheer intensity of the Siren's cry, they knew then that this was going to take much longer than they initially thought.

* * *

**Shaylene's POV:**

Deep within the core of HYDRA's new base off the coast of New York's Harbor, I find myself following Strucker through the winding tunnels and hallways. Apparently the reason I'm here is because this is where HYDRA is currently keeping most of the parts for the master plan. He said that he suspects the Avengers may find out about it and that he doesn't trust some of his guards down here.

That is why I'm here. The perfect inside job to protect and watch over the base during the night to make sure that nothing's being usurped beneath Strucker's nose. He also has used the Siren, Alina Cambridge, as a distraction so the Avengers will not notice my current absence. It's a well concieved plan I must admit, keeping the Avengers busy and my own team will be watching the news reels.

Even though Strucker does not have total trust in me yet, he says that the few rooms that I'm not allowed in will be guarded by Brock Rumlow and other trusted officials, but stated that I'm am favorable and that he needs a bit more time for me to prove my loyalty to HYDRA. I nod and inform him that I do understand and agree to his conditions.

"Now Miss Rogers—" Strucker says, I glare at his back.

"It's Shaylene, not Rogers. Than man is not my father, I don't have one," I reply shortly, Wolfgang Von Strucker glances over at me. He grins like he was hoping I would catch that detail.

"Of course, I'm sorry. Miss Shaylene, I need to show you what I need you to carefully watch over. Though this isn't the most important of items, it's needed for our plan to succeed. This will prove your loyalty to me."

"I will not fail, you can believe me."

Strucker smirks. "I didn't think so, you're a soldier like your genetic link and you hate to fail. That's why you'll be keeping those trained eyes on the machine we managed to acquire from Stark at his tower earlier. You faced my agents there and fought them right?"

I shrugged, not denying it. "I was worried for the safety of my team, things are different now."

"Very good, I'm glad to have you on the right side Shaylene."

A nod and a smile is my response.


End file.
